Frightened Rabbit: The Loft - Forres.

Grant, Myself  and Scott after the gig.

Last night (13/04/12) I had the pleasure of getting to see my all time favourite band Frightened Rabbit in a fairly intimate gig at The Loft just outside of Forres. They are currently on their Highlands and Islands tour, playing smaller venues in the more rural areas of Scotland. I saw Frabbit at Rockness last year; they were amazing then , but this was something else.

I was stood front and centre, two feet away from the band for the gig, probably the best possible position in the venue. Opening with Old Old Fashioned, Frabbit got the crowd on side within the first few strums of the guitar. They went on to play most songs from The Midnight Organ Fight, and a few each from Sing the Greys and The Winter of Mixed Drinks. They also managed to squeeze in two new songs named Oil Slick and then Boxing Day. Scott illustrated the circumstances of why Boxing Day was written. It was 'after a particularly shite Christmasdue to the end of a relationship', and he wrote the song sat in his boxers and drowning his sorrows- classic Scott, eh? The new tracks do sound pretty cool; Oil Slick has some nice guitar from Andy. Scott also revealed that they will be entering the studio very soon to record the new album and they would have done already if it weren't for Paolo Nutini getting in ahead of them.

After the band played crowd favourite Old Old Fashioned, everyone bar Scott went back to the dressing room for a break. In this time, Scott asked the crowd what songs they wanted to hear. The reply was Scottish Winds followed by Be Less Rude and then possibly one of the best songs ever written- Poke. I managed to get a good video of the first too songs but for Poke, Scott ended up playing in the middle of the crowd- creating a proper acoustic experience- so he was too far away to record. The crowd stood silently watching Scott play, only to join in with the 'ooooh's' that echo throughout the song.

After closing the set with 'The Loneliness And The Scream' the crowd were still in full voice and continued to chant the 'oh oh oh oh oooohh's' after the song finished and the band had disappeared back to their dressing room. But to the delight of everyone who attended they emerged back to play the hard hitting and emotive 'Keep Yourself Warm'. Every Frightened Rabbit fan loves this song and the whole experience of this song live improved tenfold with the terrific crowd who got behind the band and belted out every word at the top of their voices.

After the gig Scott and brother Grant were kind enough to come out and sell their merchandise, sign autographs and take photos. I introduced myself and they even recognised who I was which made the night even more special for me. I bought 2 vinyl LP's which Scott signed and I also managed to grab myself 2 picks and the setlist. All in all, it was an excellent night and the Loft was a really great venue for a band like Frabbit. The crowd were also magnificent, so hopefully that will entice Frightened Rabbit to make a swift return to The Loft. I'd love to see them up here again!