Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes:
Melting minds and rattling bones in Swansea
Sin City, 13.2.19

In the run up to the release of their third album ‘End Of Suffering’ Frank and the gang have been hitting some of the country’s biggest venues swinging from the rafters and inciting mayhem in the pits. Their new album- ‘End Of Suffering’ – is a dive into Frank’s mind and everything that passes through it. It’s all about getting free from your inner demons and taking the time to love yourself. Don’t think that means they’ve lost their trademark brooding aggression however; they preach their message of positivity with killer pulsating riffs and wall shaking bellows.

Their freshest single ‘Crowbar’ tells us what they’re all about with this one. Be yourself, love yourself and if you don’t like where you are in life then grab that crowbar and get yourself free to be you. That’s how they kicked off their set. The lights dimmed, the band glided into view, the warm pulsating bass ushered in electricity to the atmosphere, here was Frank Carter ladies and gentlemen, bathed in red light with a sold out crowd hanging off of every word sung. The chorus kicks in and the room went off, the audience melted and merged into a sea of bodies bouncing off each other with every one of them locked in a state of rock and roll ecstacy. The Rattlesnakes had set their bar high and they didn’t dissapoint one bit. the main men, Frank Carter and Dean Richardson kept the energy flowing with their awesome stage presence: Frank got up close and personal with the crowds whilst Dean kept the carnage going on stage with a beastial performance that left the impression that he and his Telecaster where a single entity singing its savage song.

‘This song is an old song; it’s dedicated to Theresa May for fucking our futures up’

The first of many song dedications in the night, this emotionally charged rendition of ‘Trouble’ from their debut album was followed by Frank leaping the barrier and quite literally hanging from the rafters. A particularly stand out moment from the night, he looked like a mad pirate as he swung himself over the crowd mic in mouth as the band went into a thumping instrumental. Carter suddenly made the back row late commers the front row lucky few, as he performed his next few tracks from the tables of the merch stand. Security looked terrified, Frank looked insane; it wouldn’t have been a Rattlesnakes gig without a moment like this.

Often times you can pinpoint a group’s demographic by looking at the audience. Not here though. From people scraping sixty to people who looked they came straight from school everyone was united in their mutual love of letting loose and rocking out. (Although there weren’t quite so many of the oldies bouncing about the pits)
‘End Of Suffering’s’ message of love and understanding became more clear in the latter half of the show. Unreleased track ‘Heartbreaker’ was introduced to be dedicated to all of the women who’ve had to deal with abuse and made to feel unsafe in their enviroment.

‘If you’ve ever wanted to crowd surf but didn’t for fear of being touched inappropriately this is your chance.’ This was the offer to the female members of the audience and they snatched it up with glee. The song itself was a defiant middle finger to mysogyny, a great track but not as great as what Frank did with it. Women of all ages sprouted to the tops of the crowd floating about with cheshire cat smiles. Every time they would wind up infront of the barrier, it was straight back round and up onto the crowd for another surf. He’s an artist who uses his podeium to preach positivity with a determined aggressive sound. Another new track ‘Anxiety’ took the crowd off of their wild frenzy for a sombre moment. Speaking of his own experiences of feeling trapped with toxic masculintiy he urged the crowd to talk about their issues and ignore traditional stereotypes– ‘the pinnacle of a warrior is to die, we’re not doing that shit anymore, talk about it’.

 

The gang delivered a performance that rattled your ribs and shook the floor beneath you. Live, they sound raw and wild which works in the music’s favor, fitting their image perfectly. Closing with a four song encore that ended in (a mostly crowd sung) ‘I hate you’ you get more than your moneys worth. From the stage and crowd, they whip up an energy in the room thats pure, unfiltered excitement that left you bouncing with joy with every fresh mosh pit that opened up. They tear down toxic norms and they kick ass doing it. This is Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes and they’re not going anywhere!

http://andtherattlesnakes.com/

Words and Pix - Dom Waters
More pix here

Thanks to Rob at Sonic PR for fixing this up