Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes + Blackhole + Creeper @ The Rainbow Courtyard, 20th October 2015
Arriving to a very busy Rainbow pub on a gig night can only be a good sign, and seeing as Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have sold out Birmingham’s Rainbow Courtyard, I understand why everywhere is so busy. Providing support tonight are Creeper and Blackhole.
Having been to several gigs at The Courtyard I was very shocked to walk in and see no barrier circa 2013. With Creeper offering tonight’s first dosage of punk, I was interested to see how the lack of barrier would pan out. Playing a blend of pop punk and straight up punk, Creeper put on an excellent show. The room was packed and a fair few people knew the words. Playing an average set length, Creeper were able to let people know what they were about and had certainly set the bar quite high for Blackhole.
Hailing from London, the punk quintet certainly came back with a storm. After a recent hiatus of five years, Blackhole are back and with a score to settle. Their raw, heavy and groove laden riffs fill the room with energy that is soon let out with the first movement of the night. Vocalist Richard Carter is in the crowd for the majority of the set exploring all the rooms nooks and crannies, leaving no patch of floor untrodden, whilst the rest of the band hold the fort up on stage. Playing old material, Blackhole soon identify the fans that have seen them before whilst the new songs they play appeal to all. Taking back to the stage for the final song, Carter tells of how the “semi-circle of hell” will not be good enough for Frank and the boys. As Blackhole play their last song, the crowd seem to wake up just that tiny bit more in preparation for the headline band, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes take to the stage in a very unorthodox manner with no big entrance and no intro track, they just walked on. Frank Carter tells us that last time they were here he had the flu and food poisoning on the same day, but this time he was feeling 100% fit and that the “murder” was about to begin. With more energy than a supercharged Duracell battery, The Rattlesnakes begin to tear The Courtyard apart.
Song two sees Carter climb the monitors and jump onto crowd below. “This stage is your stage” yells Carter which sees stage dives throughout the entire set. It was not only Carter that fancied a trip onto the crowd as guitarist Dean Richardson gets held up at Carter’s request.
At the half way mark everybody is dripping with sweat so Frank makes his way through the crowd and sings two very heartfelt songs accompanied only by Richardson’s guitar. The latter of the songs showed us a side to Carter that may easily go unseen as he very nearly bursts into tears singing it. After he and the extremely busy room had had a rest, the carnage returns with even bigger riffs and even more singalongs.
The arrival of Juggernaut sees the room erupt into what I can only describe as a frenzy. Carter takes the time to thank everybody for turning up and allowing him to do what he loves before playing Fangs for the second time of the night. Finally though, arguably the biggest sing along of the night, I Hate You. Its massive chorus can be heard over the top of the band and even unaccompanied by Carter.
If there was an award for being the most intense, raw and energetic live band it would go to Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. With members hailing from former hardcore bands it is no surprise to see the success that The Rattlesnakes are having, but it is not without putting everything into what they do and tonight that became clear. Not even a year after their inception and they have sold out a UK tour. This band are heading for very big things and they definitely deserve it.
Review: Dan Wilson
Photographs: Andy Watson