Spinto Band and Frightened Rabbit at Lee’s Palace

24 October 2008, Allan @ 6:45 pm

I arrived early to the show on Tuesday (yes I am aware that I am 3 days late) but I was promptly denied entry for a little while the people at Lee’s figured things out. This actually caused me to miss most of Spiral Beach’s set. What I saw was a very energetic set and really lived up to their self-genre classification of thrash and pop. They might be a band I look forward to hearing from.

For the 10 minutes I saw them, I would say that they are very entertaining live and even if there were only a handful of people supposed to see them, they danced their faces off (I think at an instance a guy tripped and face planted the front of the stage – he was a trooper though).

The strange thing of the night was the fact the Spinto Band was closing over Frightened Rabbit, I thought it seemed like an odd way to promote a concert even though the Spinto Band has been around a lot longer. Frightened Rabbit were the new darlings of Pitchfork so I wasn’t surprised to see a major exodus once FR left.

Frightened Rabbit were decent. I definitely had tempered expectations because it’s hard to get much out of performance with the type of music Frightened Rabbit presents, you know the gloomy yet emotional affair. They switched things up and did have a few in the crowd singing each song word for word. They did switch things up a little as Scott John Hutchinson improvised on his guitar adding a special unique element to each song. Also Scott’s voice wasn’t the distinct Scottish accent that absolutely steals the show on the Midnight Organ Fight, it was just alright. At times, I wish there was more of Frightened Rabbit and not being on a supporting bill may have contributed to that.

The Spinto Band played with the venue noticeably…empty. There were still quite a few people who stuck around and it was definitely worth it. I knew very few songs off their discography and only heard the tracks streaming off their new disc Moonwink. They were really good just like Ricky from Panic Manual claimed. They have an energetic yet quirky/nerdy bravado that just works for them. The music itself is top notch even if their vocals aren’t the greatest (live or album wise). Highlight for me was the Kazoo’s. They looked like something from the dollar store but it was an entertaining way to introduce a song.

I definitely would like the Spinto Band if I had a chance to accustom to more of their music and I plan to get my hands on Moonwink and other older stuff.

Summer Grof by The Spinto Band
Oh Mandy by The Spinto Band
Made of Stone by Spiral Beach
Old Old Fashioned (live) by Frightened Rabbit

Chromewaves also has his review up. We used our own pictures this time .