[Live Review] Frightened Rabbit, Chicago, Bottom Lounge, 7.19.09

As the massive amount of crowds and euphoric ridden folk file out of Union Park, from the festival ending set by the Flaming Lips. I lock up my bike and head into the Bottom Lounge to see how Frightened Rabbit has held up since he was on the stage much earlier for the third and final day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Unfortunately I drew the very short straw and was held up from making it out today, the worst of it was the bulk of the bands I was looking forward to see live all fell on this last day as well. On a positive note, with some diligence and determination it looks as though I will get to see a lot of these same bands either when they return to Chicago for their own tour or when I make my way out to Colorado for this year's Monolith Festival. Regardless, I was fortunate enough to catch Scott Hutchison & gang’s Post Pitchfork show this evening. Unsurprisingly there was a decent crowd all packed in to see the set they either missed or had hoped to build onto from the fun earlier in the day.

Thax arrives to introduce Frightened Rabbit quoting lyrics from “Poke”. The Scots run onto stage exclaiming tiredness and begins with “I Feel Better” they start rather high tempo with no signs of fatigue, continuing what I can assume was a strong set nine hours ago. “Since we’ve played this afternoon, I’ve had a bit of whiskey…perfect cure for a sore throat, and among other things confidence” Scott jokes holding up a bottle in between songs. Much like the brutal honesty of his lyrics, Scott’s delivery is just as visibly painstaking. A drunken Scott makes an enjoyable performer creating a comfortable environment jesting and conversing in between songs. The crowd definitely not a deterrent from the enjoyment of the set, I can imagine this being a better experience for the Pitchfork goers who caught their earlier set; as the band casually throws jokes around coercing everyone for crowd cooperation. WOW!!! “The Modern Leper” has turned this performance up a notch they are such an amazingly gracious band as well. Still becoming familiar with their first album, it was a nice transition to hear something old, “Yawns”. A microphone error occurs but Scott takes it in strides and he casually eases over and resumes his twist.
Obviously inebriated by the drunken ramble throughout the show but not apparent in their performance as it flows seamlessly all the way through this cozily crowded lounge. The crowd’s yells and requests are offhandedly responded to; and then leading into the ninth song ”My Backwards Walk” of the set, the drunken error finally occurs. Scott shrugs it off with a laugh claiming it had to occur at some point. With the loud chants, “Music Now!!!” begins, and this experience has definitely reached that musical nirvana where all sensories are reached by the spine tingling performance on stage. That song demands you to sweet talk the next random girl to the backroom and make out with her, per suggestion of the random girl next to me. I clarified that wasn’t a blatant suggestion for the two of us to disappear for the remainder of the set. There is such a high intensity and this rhythmic awesomeness present as the set comes to a conclusion with Scott dancing a jig about stage and the drum skins being pounded. After a relentless plead, stomp and chant from the audience Scott returns with his acoustic guitar in hand letting us know his gratitude and he was going to play something new. “Swim Until you Can’t See Land”, has an overall feeling of loneliness, solitude and disparity, from what Ive read definite aspect that will be present in their upcoming album. Finishing the evening off with another gracious thanks and promising to soon return prior to bringing the house down with the crowd pleasing “Keep Yourself Warm”. For obvious reasons it would take a lot to make up for the missed line up of Pitchfork but at least this year’s festival experience ended on a very high note with an amazing performance from a great band.

Pitchfork Spotlight: Flaming Lips

Straight out of Oklahoma City, Wayne Coyne and company are still finding ways to jostle the standards of genre bending ideas that he originated himself. It was this strange and alternative originality that first peaked my interests way back in high school, with Transmissions from the Satellite Heart it wasn't until later, more mature years that I actually appreciated the creativity this band exudes as my copy of The Soft Bulletin eventually was scraped all to hell as a result of overplay. I was fortunate enough to catch them live on the "Unlimited Sunshine Tour" which supported their hugely breakout hit album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I could not believe at the time there was a way to respect a band more. It was unfathomable how The Flaming Lips could continually find a refreshing and energetic way to translate the eccentric ideas that float through the psyche of Wayne Coyne. Approaching their 23rd year of existence, fans prepare for the October release of their double album, Embryonic. The frontman has been quoted as to describe the new release as a "freak-out vibe". To be honest with you, it's very difficult to note the band's accolades without presenting it in some sort of lifetime achievement fashion. From what has been either played live this summer or was released online is proving true the next evolving step in the band's over accomplished career.

In his lyrics, Wayne Coyne is able to bridge the trippy, hallucinatory experiences of a lucid dream with the internal conversations in one's mind on a daily basis. Prior to the resurgence of the mind-bending sounds of psychedelic rock; the Flaming Lips were breaking ground in creating an alternate universe without the negative repercussions of an adverse trip. His words are direct and are LSD laced to allow his listeners to sometimes peek at the realities of society that everyone works hard to mask behind their dummy smiles. "Do You Realize" is the official state rock song of Oklahoma. I didn't realize (no pun intended) that states chose those sort of things. I read a recent interview with Coyne where he talked a little about it. "Little by little we discovered that your art isn't sacrificed by the absurd things that happen in your life...So we got the State Rock Song, and we just accept whatever absurdities come with it. Take the good, take the bad, and fuck it, man."

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1" is a song that has always stood out to me. Being a literal artist my imagination grasped tightly onto this track and continuously transports me to an anime-like environment following Yoshimi's defeat of her large metallic antagonists. There is a multi-layered facet as the numerous emotions that are intertwined with the struggles of human relations are dissected and investigated under this space rock sci-fi microscope. All this passion and sentiment is emitted throughout this concept driven song .