Show Review: Frightened Rabbit at the Mohawk 12/14

Scott Hutchison is ultra-sensitive, crass, fearless, self-deprecating, charming, tasteless— basically a walking contradiction. His songs are no different. Hutchinson took the stage Saturday night at the Mohawk for what turned out to be a fantastic acoustic set of Frightened Rabbit material.

I’ve been a Frightened Rabbit fan since a friend showed me The Midnight Organ Fight a few years ago, and was thrilled when Hutchinson chose to play that album in its entirety. Most of the songs sounded great in stripped-down versions. Floating in the Forth and Fast Blood were especially well done.

While his songs are often quite sentimental, Hutchinson’s banter was consistently uncouth. I can’t really repeat much of it, but le’s just say he’s got a rare sense of humor. It was certainly the first time I’ve heard a singer, or anyone for that matter, refer to an incident as a “dick emergency”.

At times, Hutchinson seemed like he was in too lighthearted a mood to connect with his own songs. While playing “Poke”, easily one of the most depressing songs ever written, he kept smiling comically and shaking his head in disbelief as he was distracted by the crowd. Still, he soldiered on, and in his best moments absolutely killed it. I didn’t realize how powerful his voice can be before hearing him live.

After playing his way through The Midnight Organ Fight, Hutchinson took a few requests and then thanked the Aster Donovan Foundation who put on the charity event. He also mentioned that he hopes to start working on a solo album soon, and judging by his performance with just an acoustic guitar on an exceptionally cold night at The Mohawk, it should be brilliant.