FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES // YORK FIBBERS, YORK
Frank Carter ends his sold-out UK headline tour in style at York Fibbers
FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES PERFORMING AT YORK’S FIBBERS - 23.02.2019
PICTURE BY: LAURA TOOMER @TOOMERGIGPHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★★
Every now and again you witness something so extraordinary that you are not sure how to put it into words. That’s not particularly helpful if your job is to review that same extraordinary thing. Quite the opposite in fact and leaves me with a bit of a quandary, one that I am still contemplating even as my fingers are hammering away at the keyboard in front of me. So, bear with me, be patient and let’s try and go on this crazy, indescribable and frankly bewildering journey together over the next 5 minutes or so.
Saturday 23rd February is an unremarkable date to be fair, however this years marked the end of a whirlwind tour by Frank carter and the Rattlesnakes that began in Oxford just over 2 weeks ago and took in 12 previous destinations. All of them, like this one, completely sold out. That should have been a measure for what we were in store for and they didn’t disappoint.
It’s been 2 years since Frank carter made any noises of note with new material, that time has been spent in many different ways, Frank himself has been on something of a very personal journey and openly shared his struggles. However every cloud has a silver lining and those life experiences have been the inspiration for the new material that will be on offer with the very aptly named new album, ‘End of Suffering’ Due for release on the 3rd May this year.
We opened up with the first release from that Album, ‘Crowbar’. It’s hard to imagine that this wasn’t a huge hit from a previous LP such was the response for the hysterical crowd. Every word, every note already firmly implanted in the memory bank of pretty much every member of the packed out crowd. This wasn’t so much an opening number to get things off the ground as an opening explosion to raise the roof. From that moment, every single person present was in this to the bitter end whether they wanted to be or not, and believe me, they all did.
If you know the band then you know what to expect from the music. It’s hard, real, loud and absolutely full of energy and passion. Punk Rock of the highest quality and as raw as it comes. Lyrically It’s as full of emotion as it is anger, it punches you in the face, kicks you in the bollocks and then picks you up, gives you a cuddle and checks you are ok.
That was pretty much the theme of the entire evening, the mosh pit was a crazy mess of hot, sweaty bodies giving it everything they had and on more than one occasion the band stopped midway through a song to make sure the security guards could rescue a vulnerable punter clearly struggling in the sauna like heat of the venue.
Frank shows genuine affection for his audiences, he makes appoint of understanding what they experience and makes sure everyone feels welcome and a part of what makes these gigs such an amazing experience for everyone. At the beginning of ‘Heartbreaker’ women are invited to crowd surf and everybody else is given warning that this is to be a safe and secure environment for them to do it. No groping, no fondling, no abuse, just enjoy the music and let everyone be a part of it.
This could easily be seen as gimmicky and a bit of PR, but it isn’t, it’s genuine and a completely honest reaction from a performer who loves what he does and wants everyone to feel the same as he does about it.
That’s not to say the place doesn’t get crazy, far from it. In fact there are many occasions when it just goes nuts and all hell breaks loose, whether its shoes being lost in the melee, pints being thrown in all directions, the band swinging upside down from the rafters, microphone in hand and belting out another number, or the guitarist crowd surfing and playing riffs whilst being held up by an army of raised hands. This is a gig that had everything, it was a gig on steroids, a gig that starts sprinting at the beginning of a marathon and gets the full 26 miles before it even thinks about slowing down.
The intensity didn’t stop at the performance, the music kept on coming with wave after wave of high octane tunes such as; Acid Veins, Trouble, Vampires and Snake Eyes keeping everyone on the edge of sanity for the duration. New song ‘Crowbar’ was so well received as an opening number it was replayed mid-way through the set to an even more rapturous reception than the first time.
The intimacy of the small venue made this truly extraordinary and with the band being a 3rd headline act at Leeds festival later this year getting to experience them in such an intimate setting again may be a rare occurrence.
I am fortunate enough to go to a lot of gigs, however that also means it’s sometimes easy to be a little blasé about them and to an extent take them for granted. It takes something special to blow my socks off, on this Saturday night in York my socks were blown off so hard I almost lost my toes and ankles with them.
Do yourselves a favour, buy the new album and if you are going to Leeds/ Reading festival make sure you get for and centre for frank carter and the Rattlesnakes. You won’t be disappointed
SETLIST: | FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES : YORK FIBBERS, YORK - 23.02.2019
Crowbar
Wild Flowers
Tyrant Lizard King
Trouble
Vampires
Fangs
Heartbreaker
Acid Veins
Anxiety
Snake Eyes
Jackals
Lullaby
Crowbar
Kitty Sucker
Devil Inside Me
I Hate You