Frightened Rabbit @ Barrowland, 6 Dec

A two night sell-out at the Barrowlands is the stuff dreams are made of round these parts, and Scott Hutchison isn’t hiding his glee tonight. It’s tempered however by the growing audience the band now attracts, evident when Scott grimaces through a depressing ‘here we fucking go’ chant. “That’s the first time that’s happened at a Frightened Rabbit gig,” he states factually, wearing his diplomatic hat. It’s a pity that the pint-flinging blokes and squawking hen party cut-outs seem to hog the limelight these days, though the quintet themselves put on a solid, at times great show nonetheless.

Opening couplet Things and Modern Leper simply sound fantastic, the latter ramped up impressively without losing its ramshackle bombast. Not Miserable is a surprising highlight, sounding equally full and robust thanks to Grant Hutchison’s mighty skin-pounding. Dips occur with an overly ambitious take on Skip The Youth, whilst Scott’s solo encore of Poke proves too intimate a song for these surroundings. With major label backing now behind them, these are problems that are only likely to increase. But having weathered far bigger hardships, and on this evidence, the lads look steely enough to take on all comers. [Darren Carle]