Frank rattles the Riverside
JOHN LOWDON REVIEWS FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES AT NEWCASTLE RIVERSIDE
EVERY so often you go to a gig that you know you’ll remember for the rest of your life. The Cluny 22/10/2015 is one of those for me.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes had just released debut album Blossom a couple of months previous. When they landed in town they left a trail of shattered ear drums and battered bodies – and for me, a bad case of whiplash that I still feel to this day.
Less than a year and a half later, Frank is back! This time with a sold-out show at The Riverside, another album in the guise of top-ten hitting Modern Ruin and with a new Rattlesnakes rhythm section.
FC&TR circa 2017 is a slightly different beast to the one that laid waste to the Cluny. It’s still aggressive, still mightily impressive, but just a little bit different.
It’s not that Frank’s punk fire has been put out, it’s just that on the new album he’s added copious amounts of rock. Is that a bad thing? Some say yes, some say no. But judging by the massive crowd tonight, I’d say nobody in here gives a damn, they’re just here to see the Frank and boys go wild and repeat history.
From set opener to set closer, it’s clear Frank and the Rattlesnakes still mean business. They deliver a high-energy set that sees Frank in the crowd, standing on top of a sea of hands only three songs in during a crushing rendition of Juggernaut. He’s got the crowd in the palm of his sweaty tattooed hand from the get go and takes crowd-surfing to a new level with a handstand. Who knew he was an ace acrobat as well as a formidable frontman?
It’s not all about testosterone-fuelled madness tonight though. Frank makes a point of introducing Modern Ruin as a ladies only crowd-surfing song. There’s also touches of tenderness as he plays a solo rendition of Bluebelle, a song about his beloved dog.
The new songs sound great in the live environment. They’ve got some massive rock choruses going on that stick in your head despite what some critics say. Wild Flowers in particular gets its hooks in there and refuses to let go. As does a blistering rendition of Lullaby, a song dedicated to all the sleep-depraved parents present.
For me though, it’s all about the songs from Blossom. Primary Explosive and Devil Inside Me being particular highlights, especially the later where ringmaster Frank gets the crowd to see how low they can go before bouncing back up in unison. It’s a sweaty mess in the pit and everyone loves it.
Tonight’s shenanigans are over and done with in little over an hour so I’m left to go home without hearing my favourite song Rotten Blossom. I can however comfort myself, safe in the knowledge that Frank and the boys still love me and everyone else here, despite the set closer being titled I Hate You.
Will I remember tonight in the same way as 2015’s gig? Probably not. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For one, nobody used my head as a crash mat this time.