Frightened Rabbit October 12, 2012 Minneapolis, MN

Amy, Lynna, Me, Nikki, Jen

I went to Minneapolis this past weekend to see Frightened Rabbit in concert. This was one of those things that I'd been looking forward to for so long that I was a little nervous it wouldn't be as good as I'd hoped.

Turns out there was no need to worry. The concert was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. They played all the songs I wanted to hear except "Keep Yourself Warm", but according to a review I read about the Chicago show the night before, Scott has a cold so he had to cut out some songs.

Modern Leper

After listening to an opening band that wasn't ... bad, per se, all their songs just sounded the same, it was finally time for Frightened Rabbit!!

Old Old Fashioned

I have their live album (songs from The Midnight Organ Fight) and I've watched videos of live performances so I knew they would give a brilliant performance. But nothing quite prepared me for actually being there: the atmosphere of the crowd; the energy of the band; hearing "Living in Colour", "Swim Until You Can't See Land", "The Loneliness and the Scream", and all the rest of the songs live; listening to Scott tell the story of how he wrote "Boxing Night" ... it was a surreal experience and one I won't forget anytime soon. 

Grant - Old Old Fashioned

There was a lot of bantering back and forth between Scott and the crowd - with a lot of people asking him to marry them. A couple of guys even asked Grant to marry them except they referred to him as "Scott's brother". Scott said something along the lines of "You should probably learn his name first."

Scott told a story about how he and his older brother used to gang up on Grant when they were younger. I wish I could remember the story because it was really funny.

Anyway, after telling us all how he used to pick on Grant, Gordon suggested that Scott might not want to turn his back on Grant. So, for The Twist, Scott turned the microphone around and faced Grant.  As Jen put it: "... he did sing a good portion of The Twist with his arse in my face. :)" Yes, that's right, we were front row, center! I don't care how much my feet hurt by the end of the night (I was wearing my "sexy" boots), it was worth it to get there an hour before the doors opened!

The Twist

If I had to pick a favorite part of the show, it would be the encore. The encore opened with Scott playing "Scottish Winds" on his acoustic guitar.  "Scottish Winds" holds a special place in my heart ever since I saw a video of him playing it acoustically. But to see and hear it live was something else. I could watch this man play the guitar for hours on end and never tire of it. He followed it with "Poke", which is an incredibly beautiful song. Jen said it perfectly:  "Best show ever. There might have been tears." 

Scottish Winds

"Good Arms vs Bad Arms" started with just Scott playing and then one by one the band members joined in. Except for Grant, who was giving Scott a hard time for his earlier story, and standing just off stage. Scott finally stopped playing and told Grant to stop fucking with him and Grant made his way on stage. Scott picked back up where he'd left off and they finished the song. Hands down my favorite version of that song I've heard yet.

All too soon the concert was over. I could have stayed and listened to them the rest of the night (though I might have taken my boots off). Scott threw his guitar pick and it landed right in front of us. I didn't see where it landed, but Lynna did and she grabbed it for me. Eeeep! So, yeah, I have Scott's guitar pick - signed, even. :)

Simon from Olympic Swimmers

We hung around for a little bit after the lights came back on. Lynna got Gordon's set list from the cute roadie, who turns out isn't really a roadie at all, but a guitarist for Olympic Swimmers (another band from Glasgow) and he also tunes guitars for Frightened Rabbit.

Gordon came out to help take down the stage, and Lynna asked him to sign her set list. I had purchased the Sing the Greys CD to complete my collection so I had him sign that. Amy got him to sign her shirt - except that the shirt was wrinkled so his signature ended up looking like "Gorky". LOL

Then Scott came out and we asked him to sign our stuff too (that's when he signed his guitar pick). We chatted with him for a little bit. He told us that they'd be back in the spring touring for their new album which comes out in February. YAY!! Somehow I ended up telling him that I'd driven from Missouri for the concert - 9 hours one way. At hearing that he held out his hand and we shook hands. We talked a little longer, and I think I told him that he should come to The Blue Note here in Columbia if they do come to Missouri next year.  There were other people waiting to get Scott's autograph and pictures though so we left. Grant had come back to help take down his drum set so we got his attention and had him sign our things as well.

Grant had hash marks on his jeans and when Amy asked him about them he said there was one for every hour they spent in a room at Customs the day before. They'd gotten held up for 5 or 6 hours coming back into the US from Toronto because they'd not declared their money correctly or some such thing. I guess US Customs seized over $20k of their money.  They were understandably pissed.

Me and Scott 

We were about to leave when I decided that I wanted my picture taken with Scott so we walked back over to him. When I asked if I could take a picture with him he said something along the lines of, "For 9 hours, of course you can have a picture".

After that it was time to leave. :( I will see them again next time they come to the States. If they make it to Missouri I'll see them here, otherwise, I'll be going back to Minneapolis! This is one show that I will not miss!


This was truly one of the best nights of my life and I'm so lucky to have shared it with Jen, Nikki, Lynna and Amy! Love you guys!

Must give a shout-out to Jeri Smith-Ready because without her this night would not have been possible. She's the reason I know Lynna, Jen, Nikki & Amy, and the reason I know who Frightened Rabbit are.

Set List:
Modern Leper
Old Old Fashioned
The Twist
State Hospital
Fast Blood
Music Now
Head Rolls Off
Swim Until You Can't See Land
Boxing Night
Backwards Walk
Square Nine

Encore:
Scottish Winds (solo acoustic)
Poke (solo acoustic)
Good Arms vs Bad Arms (acoustic, w/ band joining in one by one as they came back on stage)
Living in Colour
The Loneliness and the Scream