Nothing to be Frightened about, the Rabbits were good

Frightened Rabbit
November 25 at Lille Vega

Some bands are intricately linked with a certain place and time. So it is for me with Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit. If I listen to their 2008 album, The Midnight Organ Fight, it instantly reminds me of jogging along the Raccoon River in my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. I can’t really explain it, but it happens every time. If I hear it, there I am, on the south side of the river, across from the baseball stadium. 

The band’s follow-up, 2010’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks, has a similar but lesser effect as it was released just months before I left Des Moines for Denmark, and despite some good tracks, the album didn’t grab me like its predecessor. With each successive release from the band, I’ve been less and less interested. 

With that background in mind, I wasn’t sure what to expect when seeing the Scottish lads on a cold, dark Monday night in Copenhagen. 

Things got off to a promising start, with several tracks of the aforementioned two albums. With ‘The Modern Leper’, ‘Nothing Like You’ and ‘Old Old Fashioned’, I was reminded why I liked these guys in the first place. A lot of the appeal of Frightened Rabbit is the raw emotion of frontman Scott Hutchinson’s voice and lyrics, and this shined through throughout the entire evening. 

While there were stretches of the evening when the band played songs I was unfamiliar with, my attention was still mostly held tight, though not to the point where I didn’t mind wandering off for awhile to get a fresh round of beers. 

Any waning interest was recaptured towards the end of the set with an inspired performance by both band and crowd during ‘Head Rolls Off’ that led to Hutchison praising the crowd’s clapping skills and energy level. This was followed by a beautiful solo acoustic rendition of ‘Poke’ before a run through one of the band’s best tracks, ‘Backwards Walk’.

By the evening’s final one-two punch of ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ and ‘The Loneliness and the Scream’, Frightened Rabbit delivered the nostalgia fix I was longing for. I may not have left clamoring to hear what the band has put out since I stopped paying attention, but I did leave satisfied.

TOP STORIES

  • Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    After more than a decade living in Denmark, Russell shares why she made the move, how she’s coping, what she already misses, and the exciting new projects she’s working on. “It’s been a very tough decision. I love Denmark, and it will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says.

  • Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    The new Gefion AI supercomputer is one of the world’s fastest and will accelerate research and provide new opportunities in Danish academia and industry.

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs