An hour before the doors at Stirling’s Tolbooth even opened, people were braving the freezing night and gathering outside. Inside, the venue seemed to fit with the style of music being performed that night with its historic and rustic outer shell mixed with modern and abstract insides. With no barrier, the audience pressed right up against the stage at the Tolbooth, helping to set a laid back scene and connect the bands and the crowd.
The first support act, The Moth and the Mirror, was a folk-rock band with elements of shoegaze and alternative undertones. The songs generally built to atmospheric choruses with intricately constructed parts.
Their new single, ‘Fire’ (Available on iTunes soon) had an indie-esque guitar riff at the beginning followed by vocal based sections kept alive by upbeat and driven percussion. With a bit more banter between them and the crowd, this band would have been a great live act.
The second support act of the night were much more experimental. The Phantom Band made extensive use of synthesisers and obscure items for percussion, such as metal objects smashing together.
The overall sound of the band was heavily layered and built up to massive sound-scapes. Unfortunately, they ran out of time so we could not hear their entire set.
Finally, Frightened Rabbit. Scott Hutchinson’s vocals were suitably heartfelt and wrenching, with every line shouted back at him by the 200-strong crowd. You could see that the music they were playing is close to their hearts.
With two new songs played from the upcoming album The Winter of Mixed Drinks as well as old favourites from the previous two longplayers, there can be no doubt that fans both old and new found themselves clapping and tapping their feet.
The band played a new track titled ‘Nothing Like You’ which from the outset had an upbeat feel, with catchy vocal melodies and an overall heavier sound than older material. As expected, the crowd interaction was entertaining and witty with Scott shouting retorts to chants of ‘Music Now’ as well as coming up with several ingenious ways to side-step the song request.
The encore however, appeared to be the best part of the night for many as Scott appeared on stage with just a guitar and no amplification to sing ‘Poke’ along with the crowd to great effect. The only flaw that could be found is the lack of material from the band’s debut album, Sing The Greys. In two words, emotion filled. Definitely go and see them if you get the chance.