Live Review: Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow

The mind boggles why no Australian festival would put Frightened Rabbit on their line up until Groovin' The Moo this year. The fools. If this gig was anything to go by, they have no trouble at all pulling a crowd and keeping them there for two and a half hours of sweet, sweet music.

Fellow Scots Admiral Fallow were flown along for the ride, introducing many in the crowd to their folk-pop sounds. The band gave hope to the many of us who played woodwind instruments in school, as they employed a clarinet and flute for pastoral harmonies. Admiral Fallow's saccharine and moody set was a great start to the gig, setting a pace that was continued and built upon throughout the night.

Frightened Rabbit were faultless in their performance, playing a back catalogue of favourites that had the audience in rapturous applause before and after every song. Frightened Rabbit filled the air with the emotions characteristic of their songs and pulled at the crowds. At one point in the set frontman Scott Hutchison hushed the crowd to play an entirely acoustic rendition – no microphones, no amplifiers – of Poke. His cooing voice pierced the silence of the room that was only broken to join in on the singing, particularly for crucial line “…or should we kick its cunt in”. Sydneysiders apparently love their swearing as much as Frightened Rabbit do.

In addition to the amazing music going on, Hutchison was hilarious, occasionally brutal, but ever charming in his back and forth with the crowd. He has a rare gift for making people feel both loved and humiliated as he repeatedly tore into a heckler while bringing him into the joke. The crowd definitely got their money's worth with Frightened Rabbit playing for an hour and 40 minutes. Please come back soon.