We caught the always crazy and frantic Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes as they tore up Nottingham’s Rock City as part of their lockdown driven, explosive “Sticky” tour. It was, as always with Frank, a night of outrageous music, crowd surfing and electric crowds.
We sadly missed Lynks, however as we arrived, the crowd were abuzz. The initial support – who features heavily on the new album – had seemingly done their job at creating a kickstart. Shortly another artist who Frank partnered with (seeing a trend?) took to the stage – Cassyette. The Nu Metal female front-singer launched into a tirade of pop/metal/rock which continued to fuel the energy in the room. A set which could have easily have been her own headline slot, it showed off the very obvious future of this up and comer.
It didn’t seem like much more time until the lights dropped and the very distinct intro to “My Town” – the lead single, highlighting the mental damage caused under the C19 Lockdown to everyone – burst through the speakers. The crowd were instantly engaged, screaming along to Joe Talbots lines with Frank grinning and pointing the mic out in a look of pure enjoyment.
A touching moment came before “Wild Flowers” kicked in, with Frank ordering the creation of a “safe pit” just for the females and non-binaries in the audience, a touchpoint on his ongoing alliance against abuse and his help towards creating a better environment for everyone in the industry/scene.
And as always, it doesn’t take long for Frank to be walking both atop and among the crowd. Everyone is eating it up, with others being lifted high to meet his enthusiasm. The room is vibrating with noise as fans sing along to every word, with a great blend of favourites from the back catalogue and “Sticky”.
Then suddenly it shows that Frank had an expert hand in choosing the support this tour as both Cassyette and Lynks stroll on stage throughout the set. “Off With His Head” really highlights Casseyette and her vocal strength alongside Frank, commanding the stage alongside each other. You can’t really fault a single part of both “Bang Bang” and “Go Get A Tattoo” either – Lynks sounds like these songs were written for them, with Frank even commenting that when asking Lynks to write their verse for GGAT, Lynks wrote something up and above everything else already on the song.
It’s on with more and more with the same – with bodies flying over the barriers, Frank in and out of the crowd and almost an intense sound being ripped out the speakers every second. For those not wanting to mosh, it’s a difficult one as the room seemed to shift to side to side with every beat!
I will give one honest piece of negative feedback. The choice of ending on “Original Sin” was an odd one to me – feeling a little flat. It’s not a bad song, but I feel it would have sat better mid show, maybe choosing to end on the crowd chanting along to “Crowbar”.
It’s so difficult to review a FCTR show – because how can you put words to an experience? Every time it’s as if he can pump electricity into a room, the music is tight and on point in every way and as the band become bigger (lets face it, Frank’s no longer headlining 200 person venues), its never detracting away from the way they make you feel face to face with the music and the vibe.
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