主播大秀

Fresh off their support slot for Modest Mouse in Belfast, Frightened Rabbit arrive to play in the more intimate surroundings of Mason's in Derry - and there's a capacity crowd of around a hundred or so pack in for tonight's gig.

They launch straight into 'Modern Leper' one of many stand outs from the bands sophomore album 'Midnight Organ Fight'. Its played with a real enthusiasm and the band show no signs of burnout from the previous nights exploits. The crowd are in fine form from the get go with the majority singing along to ever word. Front man Scott Hutchinson is taken a back by the reception, even more so when he is presented with a home made cake made by some of their more generous fans.

'Fast Blood' and the country tinged foot stomper 'Old Old Fashioned' has the whole place smiling from ear to ear. This sparks another act of generosity as a fan buys the band a round of Sambucca which they duly neck. There is no welcome, like a Derry welcome.

The band are very tight, though another guitarist could definitely beef up their sound on a few tracks. 'Good Arms vs Bad Arms' and 'Backwards Walk' are served upto the crowd who are loving every minute of it.

These tracks show what a great songwriter Hutchinson is. They feature on 'Midnight Organ Fight' and it could be argued that it is the greatest break up album of the noughties, a songwriter prepared to bear his soul - "I'm working on erasing you, just don't have the proper tools, I get hammered, forget that you exist, there's no way I'm forgetting this".

The reception throughout the gig is fantastic and even Hutchinson applauds the crowd for being even louder than their contemporaries in Belfast from the night before. A select few tracks from the bands debut LP 'Sing the Greys' are intermingled with tracks from their forthcoming LP 'The Winter Of Mixed Drinks'.

The band shuffle off as frontman Scott Hutchinson stays to finish the gig as he straps on the acoustic guitar for a rendition of 'Poke' which is the highlight of a wonderful gig. The first few verses were sung by the crowd with no help from Hutchinson, who then returned to vocal duties. It was a touch of class this, as boisterous as the crowd had been to that point, each and ever person perfectly observed the rest of the song in silence. It was like someone had flicked a giant switch.

A fantastic gig and it looks like a great report has been struck up between Frightened Rabbit and the people of Derry. No doubt they'll be back soon for some more cake and sambucca.

Paul Mullin