Concert Review

Frank Carter is the “Man of the Hour” in Glasgow

Another memorable night in Glasgow as Frank Carter and the rattlesnakes brought their new album tour “Dark Rainbow” to the iconic Barrowland Ballroom.

The last time Frank Carter was in Scotland, it was a very different vibe. A low key, intimate setting to share some of his new material with his inner circle of fans. Glasgow promised to be the complete opposite, but Frank maintained the intimacy as he engaged with everyone in the building and he had them in the palm of his hand at times. No stranger to the famous Barrowland Ballroom, it’s become a regular outing much to the delight of the packed venue. As ever when they visit, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes have a new album to promote but even though it was only released last week, his hard core fans already knew the songs well. There’s always a great line-up on a rattlesnakes tour and the crowd had two mouth-watering bands to enjoy before Frank brought his “Dark Rainbow” alive.

Hailing from Hastings, HotWax made the most of their seven song set. The power trio hammered out their infectious grunge laden rhythmic tunes to the iconic ballroom. The Barrowland Ballroom welcomes one and all and the crowd certainly enjoyed the short but sweet set. The band have plenty material to choose from and they chose well. “Phone Machine” was an early highlight for me, Lola Sam’s driving grunge bass line underpinned with Alfie Sayers hard hitting drums provided the perfect platform for Tallulah Sim-Savage innovative guitar. “High Tea” was another highlight with Alfie stealing the show with a mini drum fill solo. “Rip It Out” left you with “I wanna rip it out my head” ringing in your ears. The band will return to Scotland in April with their own tour and an absolute must to catch a longer set from them, but they provided a brilliant opening salvo.

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I think even Frank Carter was salivating at the prospect of having The Mysterines join the tour. What an inspired invite it was, the alternative fab four from Liverpool have been on a steady trajectory since their inception. Although a five piece for this tour, the band’s nucleus is lead by Lia Metcalfe. The band have been together in this guise for nearly four years and George Favager (Bass), Callum Thompson (Guitar) and Paul Crilly (Drums) all relished the opportunity to play in the Barrowland Ballroom. The room was nearly packed come show time as the band breezed on looking uber cool. Callum was using a violin bow to start “The Last Dance.” The track is currently unreleased, but the new album has been recorded and mastered so hopefully we get to hear it soon! The new track provided insight into how the band have evolved. Dark and emotive, the stage was steeped in red light adding to the atmosphere. Another unreleased track “Goodbye Sunshine” followed the opener, and it was another haunting tune. Crilly’s heavy drums were pivotal to the overall delivery, but the sublime dual guitars were what made the song. As Lia strapped on her telecaster, Callum relayed a story of how he had found a framed Bruce Lee movie poster earlier that day, how prophetic, it was “Dangerous” that followed. With Lia back on guitar, the rest of the set had a more familiar sound to it for anyone who knows the band. Just like Hotwax, The Mysterines had 7 songs to share, and they carefully selected them to best demonstrate why they had been chosen for the tour. The latest single “Begin Again” felt almost stripped back compared to the rest of the set with Lia’s luscious languid vocals. There’s a maturity about The Mysterines, call it swagger but in Glasgow it’s “gallus”, they are the epitome of cool on stage tonight. This is further demonstrated with “All These Things,” a nod to Manchester rather than Liverpool but the set ending “Hung Up” is as good a song as any if you want a snapshot of what they are about. With a busy year ahead, The Mysterines will be on your radar.

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The evolution of Frank Carter has taken him from bare chested crowd surfing in tiny venues to the slicked back hair, suited and booted look. His audience love all incarnations as he continues to do no wrong in their eyes. With the ability to turn piano ballads in to riotous rock numbers, he never disappoints. The Barrowland Ballroom is a safe haven for the band, the band would take advantage of this to air their new album to the potentially partisan audience. The 21 song set included 7 songs from Dark Rainbow, a 1/3 of the evening dedicated to the new offering but it was a triumphant return after the previous “Sticky” album tour. The set list was broken into three main acts, the first, Act I was named “Cloudy & Pink.” “Can I Take You Home” kicked off proceedings, which saw Dean sitting at a piano as Frank slipped rather unassumingly on to stage. The slow burner morphed into “Brambles” as the show picked up pace. The final of the trio of songs, “Self Love” from the latest album upped the energy in the room again.

Act II – Like Lightening, aptly named, kicked off with “Devil Inside Me” and  introduced some much need voltage into the set for the hard core fan. The second act would end with “Juggernaut” and included loads of old set favourites with “Kitty Sucker” and a crushing rendition of “Wild Flowers” being two stand outs. Act III – Redemption Arc had a slight phase shift mixing new and old. “Sun Bright Golden Happening” and “Happier Days” were bravely shoehorned in with two heavy weights of the Carter catalogue, “Crowbar” and “Lullaby.” The new material was well received all evening, but the classics always cut through. “End of Suffering” wrapped up the third act perfectly.

Onto the Epilogue and “Thunder Road” brought any frivolity to a crashing halt. It’s a sobering reminder that all is not right with this world but with the acrimony of world events washing over the audience, Frank heard a birthday shout from the crowd. Apparently it was Aaron’s birthday, but Franks tells him they’re not going to sing happy birthday but instead, he dedicates the next song to him. You guessed it, “I Hate You,” ah the irony for Aaron as Frank looks right at him and sings the lyric! Of course, it’s in jest and he eventually shouts “Happy Birthday Aaron” before the crowd took over singing duties. For the next 2 mins the venue erupted and battled with the PA for attention.

“This song was fucking made for this room,” Frank relayed his final thoughts onto the audience and the band played out “Man of the Hour”. A fitting statement for the enigmatic frontman to take his leave. The band/crowd selfie was the last act just before the audience spilled out from the venue still buzzing.

No matter who you see at The Barrowland Ballroom, it always you leaves with that “gig of the year,” or “you had to be there” feeling. Tonight, was one of those nights, until the next one!

Follow Frank Carter & the rattlesnakes online:

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WEBSITE

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About The Author

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Raymond Thomson - Deputy Editor

I am a photographer/musician/engineer living in Scotland. My passion is music and motocross and I share my work on facebook/punk4RT and facebook/madmaxmedia. I do like a bit of throw back to the heydays of the 60’s/70’s/80’s when it comes to taking shots of bands. I grew up on the music papers (NME/Sounds/Melody Maker) and drew influence from Pennie Smith/Jill Furmanovsky/Anton Corbijn/Bob Gruen/Adrian Boot/Charles Peterson.
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