"Snake hips, red city kiss and your black eyes roll back", so sang the man. The man with sweat dripping from every pore. The man bursting blood vessels just to make us smile. The man that speaks from the heart. The soul. The bones of his body. In a small, sweaty, hot room Frightened Rabbit thrilled us all for an hour. On their only Australian sideshow the lads from Selkirk, Scotland proved once again that there is no substitute for heart, intelligence and a dedicated willingness to write songs of great melody and power.

Let me say firstly that the whole show was great. Great, great, great. But it's that moment during the closing song that things get a little combustible. It's that moment in "Keep Yourself Warm" when the whole world comes crashing down, when chills are racing up and down everyone's spine. It's when manic drummer Grant Hutchison destroys his drum kit and the chiming guitars surge and crash that my heart skips a beat. All I can say is wow. But, as said, the rest was pretty great. Whether it was the humming "Old Old Fashioned", the thrusting "The Twist", the sad "My Backwards Walk" or the soul crunching "Fast Blood" it all added up to smiles and hugs all round. A special mention should also be made to the live staple "Square 9", a track that wreaks havoc with its surging momentum. This song is power wrapped tightly inside a whirlwind. This night also proved that this band needs to play a proper tour in Australia, bigger rooms with better sound and lighting. The crowd that gathered was bursting with voice on each and every song. They sang with gusto and somewhere silently deep inside their hearts I am sure they were wishing one thing.
PLEASE COME BACK SOON.

Set List
The Modern Leper
Nothing Like You
Old Old Fashioned
I Feel Better
Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms
The Twist
Fast Blood
Swim Until You Can't See Land
My Backwards Walk
Head Rolls Off
Square 9
Keep Yourself Warm

I would also like to mention the support act in Cabins. This Sydney four piece was fantastic, showing that a basic set up of three guitars and drums can still surprise you if they can write a good tune and apply a little inventiveness. I was really impressed by this band's ability to create driving rhythms that matched perfectly with great melodies.