FRIGHTENED Rabbit made a comeback with two gigs in one day after the ill health of singer and co-founder Scott Hutchison raised fears about the band's future.
But there was further turmoil for the band on the day of the gigs with news that Scott's brother and band drummer Grant was splitting from the band for the time being.
Worries that the band may be in trouble came earlier this month when Scott Hutchison admitted he had a "meltdown" in which he invited fans not to buy his records and tweeted: "Goodbye to Frightened Rabbit."
He cancelled appearances at two German festivals, Haldern on August 13 and Rock Am See on August 20 to seek recovery after hinting his outbursts on social media were the result of alcohol and depression.
Frightened Rabbit at Bellahouston Park. Photo: Colin Bilby
On Friday, Hutchison and the band, formed in Selkirk 13 years ago, made a comeback by supporting Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at the Glasgow Summer Sessions before travelling nearly 80 miles to the Scottish Borders to headline the opening night of this year's Stowed Out festival.
Worries about the band came after a series of tweets in which Hutchison said: "Turns out I'm a complete a*sehole. It's important that everyone knows. I'm not a particularly good person. So don't buy my records.
"I've really hurt people who are in my life and then made records out of that turmoil, when it was entirely my fault anyway.
"So I'd urge you to forget about the band, it's a complete farce. I don't deserve any of the things that have benefitted my life.
He concluded in a string of tweets put out on Friday that led to concerns about the band's future: "Goodbye to Frightened Rabbit. All it has ever been is me boring people with lies and making creative currency out of other people's hurt."
Scott from Frightened Rabbit is here and raring to go for #GSS2016! pic.twitter.com/mctoxN3bfp
— Summer Sessions GLA (@GSSfestival) August 26, 2016
But days later he wrote that that it was not the end of the band and that he now had a "greater appreciation of the pitfalls of mixing alcohol, depression and social media".
His comments were punctuated by a drawing of a disturbed human brain.
"Sometimes there are more important things than playing shows and we wouldn't be pulling out if we didn't think it was necessary," he added.
He had not tweeted since August 10 when he said: "I sought entirely the wrong attention. If you're suffering, turn to your friends and family. Call someone, anyone.
"And stay the f*uk away from the internet. Bye for now. S."
But he broke his social media silence after the festival gig to thank the fans.
Meanwhile his brother said he was not calling time on his involvement with the band, but did not put a date on when he would return.
He said: "This band and the people involved with it are extremely important to me and to avoid jeopardising those relationships and the future of the band, I've decided it would be best for me to take a break from it all.
"This is not the end of my time with FR and although the decision was difficult, I feel it is the right one for me to make at this time and will ultimately be good for us all.
"So as not to let anyone down, the band will be continuing without me for now. There is some rebuilding to do that will require time, but I'm confident this is just a minor wobble and we'll be strong and steady again soon. Thank to the fans for your ongoing support, it means so much to me and to us all. Much love G x."
A statement from Frightened Rabbit said: "We are sorry to share that Grant will not be touring with FR on the upcoming dates. We support him in this and can’t wait to have him back with us soon."
World class performance from Scott, in a wee village in the Scottish Borders... pic.twitter.com/jCuktSeSpS
— Stow Brewery Limited (@StowBrewery) August 27, 2016
It comes four months after Frightened Rabbit released their their fifth album, Painting of a Panic Attack created while he was living in Los Angeles.
They are best known for hit albums Pedestrian Verse and critically acclaimed LP The Midnight Organ Flight and songs such as Swim Until You Can't See Land, Keep Yourself Warm and The Woodpile.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel