Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

support Kid Kapichi
author PP date 03/11/19 venue Amager Bio, Copenhagen, DEN

Denmark has always been a special place for Frank Carter. Ever since that initial explosion of a concert at BETA next door back in 2016. Even the band themselves appeared overwhelmed by the insanity of what was going on at that show to an extent they've mentioned it multiple times at subsequent shows since then, so coming back here feels like a return home for these guys each time. Now, they're mere meters away from what could've very easily been categorized as their career-defining concert at least here in Denmark, but on a far bigger stage at a nearly sold out Amager Bio, so we're all curious as to what kind of antics Carter & co will get up to this time.

Kid Kapichi

Kid Kapichi

But first, let's spend some words on Kid Kapichi, an English based alternative rock band that has been hand-picked by Frank Carter for this tour. They're a bit of a strange pick, to be honest, drawing equally much from grunge rock as they do from British style indie rock. It's their first big tour, which shows in the level of energy and passion on stage, where the band spends every waking moment bouncing and swirling around the stage whenever they have a minute away from the microphones. Unfortunately, the songs are just not that interesting. The vocals are drenched in echoing distortion, whilst the songs attempt to build upwards towards climaxes that would allow the band to go mental on stage. The operative word being an attempt, since the instruments nor melodies are particularly memorable. The band does manage to stick out by criticizing Brexit though in a rather special manner: waving a European Union flag on stage to underline their position on the issue. Stylistically not really a fit with Carter, maybe this would work for The Strokes or Editors or similar.

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Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

After playing such a monumental opening concert at BETA three years ago, Frank Carter & co spent the next two to three years re-creating the same show in various sizes from medium-sized clubs to arena-sized festival concerts and the like. It's always entertaining watching the man standing on his head while crowd surfing and to get the girls crowd surfing, but after you've seen that show five teams it starts getting old. Fortunately for tonight, the guys have renewed their live performance considerably from the previous few times, probably a direct result of the new album "End Of Suffering" being so different and far-removed from their punk and hardcore-fueled origins.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Speaking of which, the first half of the concert is almost exclusively dedicated to songs from that album, resulting in a set that feels divided into two very different performances: an initial intimate showcase of new material, and a manic finalé where the punk rock energy is restored to an extent. Both are equally good but for contrasting reasons.

We start with "Why A Butterfly Can't Love A Spider", which receives a surprisingly loud sing-along for being a new song and all. Despite being a slower and more theatrical song, it doesn't result in any less energy from the band than usual: they are engaged in erratic movement during the heavy instrumental parts, led by Frank Carter's kick jumps and the like.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

"FINALLY we are back in Copenhagen, we always have a special connection here", Carter muses in a clear reference to the highly successful performances the band has delivered here over the years. Many bands go on stage and say this, but with Carter, it always feels like it's coming straight from the heart honestly and humbly. It's a prelude for several lengthy monologues throughout the night where he discusses heavy topics ranging from suicide to facing your own demons as a part about toxic masculinity, all of which are treated by the crowd with the utmost respect. It's seldom you can have an entire venue with 1000+ people be so quiet you could hear a pin drop as they are during Carter's speeches, which gives the concert a special and intimate feeling despite being a larger club show.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

"Kitty Sucker" is an early highlight from the new album, and the first one that wakes up the crowd, thanks to Carter engaging in his usual antics by walking on top fo the crowd, before falling upside down and losing his mic in the process. "Spread it out guys... spread out space for me.... this is a safe space for the ladies. A ladies only pit", he continues, before dedicating "Wild Flowers" for the ladies in the crowd. "Anxiety" follows, which is preceded by a lengthy talk about using the energy of this show to go and talk to somebody about your problems, or about their problems because it might save them. It's also a fantastic song on the new album, despite being so different from what we're used to hearing from Frank.

"When we got to this part of making the setlist, we couldn't decide if we wanted to make it sexy...or to murder everybody. So we chose death by sex.", Carter teases the audience before "Latex Dreams", which sees him deep in the crowd forming his own little pit. "I'm only 5 foot 7, but with a big personality", he jokes around when someone shouts they can't see him when he's in the crowd.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

So if the first half of the crowd was characterized by lengthy monologues and showcasing new material, the second half is almost exclusively dedicated to older material with "Modern Ruin" and "Blossom" both getting their fair share. This is also incidentally where the crowd wakes up big time: pits form, the energy rubs onto the band who go absolutely mental for "Fangs" on stage. "Juggernaut" has its usual mass sing-along and Carter engaging the crowd in his frantic manner, and "Vampires" sees Frank crowd surf together with his guitarist during the song. But it is the aggressive "Devil Inside Of Me" which draws the wildest crowd energy tonight, and finalé "I Hate You" that picks up the echoing sing-along award which Carter mostly leaves for the crowd to take care of, save for the last chorus that is joined by Kid Kapichi vocalist. So as you can imagine, this half is more like the classic Carter shows we remember. But when you put the two parts together, it's a refreshing injection of variety to a show that may have felt a little stale recently. Plus, I haven't heard Carter speak this candidly about his problems before, so the overall experience felt extra intimate. Yes, nothing will ever beat that legendary BETA show, but there's still no doubt about the band still being one of the best live bands of our time.

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Setlist:

  • 1. Why A Butterfly Can't Love A Spider
  • 2. Tyrant Lizard King
  • 3. Kitty Sucker
  • 4. Wild Flowers
  • 5. Anxiety
  • 6. Love Games
  • 7. Latex Dreams
  • 8. Acid Veins
  • 9. Angel Wings
  • 10. Snake Eyes
  • 11. Fangs
  • 12. Juggernaut
  • 13. Lullaby
  • 14. Vampires
  • 15. Supervillain
  • 16. Devil Inside Me
  • 17. Crowbar
  • 18. I Hate You

Photos by: Peter Troest

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