Live Review - Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 06/11/16

Let’s begin with this, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes are the best band in the UK at this present moment in time, both on stage and record they are almost perfect, they seem to do everything right and they have gone about everything the right way. We are proud to have seen the Rattlesnakes on their first tour, proud to have seen them that first time at Leeds festival and the second time when they slayed main stage- further, we’re proud to have seen them on the Kerrang tour, proud to have seen them at Download, we are proud to have seen Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes grow, evolve and mature into a band on the verge of releasing their second studio album. 

Opening the show can be a thankless task, some audiences will come early ready to embrace bands like Thee MVPs, other audiences just sit around the corner in a bar waiting for the headliners like silly ignorant closed minded non-listeners. Happily the Rattlesnakes fans take option one, and give Thee MVPs the attention they deserve, the DIY Punk sound is perfectly different yet everything you’d expect from a band hand picked by Frank himself. A mix of the Hives, a little bit Pixies and a little bit Ramones, the riffs come thick and fast, and feature possibly the greatest bass face ever. The UK music scene is always looking for something different both in terms of sound and vision, and it wouldn’t be surprising if those criteria are picked up on in Thee MVPs, certainly a band to keep an eye on in an industry populated with bland Indie bands.

A band that many people have been keeping an eye on are Dead! who have been ready to break out for a while, and among some circles people will probably argue they already have. Another sound that is something brilliantly different, yet everything you’d expect from a band picked to support tonight. Dead! seem to tick a lot of boxes, there are hints of everything from Green Day to Placebo. Their performance is full of energy, the polar opposite of what you’d expect from a band with bedside table lamps on their amplifiers. 

Many bands have sold out the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, but somehow with everyone in the room ready and waiting for the nights headliners, it somehow feels more sold out than ever before. The Rattlesnakes arguably could have played and sold out Rock City (next door), but in keeping with the last two years of the Rattlesnakes, they have taken the humble and respectful next step up to a venue like the Rescue Rooms. The stage presence of the Rattlesnakes as a collective of individuals is immense, just the sheer act of them walking onto the stage is enough to send the crowd into a frenzy. Are Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes the Justin Bieber of the Rock ‘n’ Roll scene? Perhaps!

When you experience an event such as this, it can be difficult to write about it objectively, but what is beautiful about the Rattlesnakes, is that they have so many levels to their performance. From the initial onslaught and aggression, to the most haunting moments like the silence during ‘Beautiful Death’ and then the pure levels of innocence as Frank invites the women in the audience to come and stage dive during brand new track ‘Modern Ruin’, because he doesn’t want his daughter growing up in a world where girls don’t stage dive. Going back to the very beginning, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes genuinely are the best band in the UK. 

We are proud to announce Frank Carter will be the first of our “Conversation” series, which will be up shortly.