Frightened Rabbit tops list of bands I saw in May

The bands I saw in May blow April’s Top 5 Shows totally out of the water. At the top of my list is Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit [Myspace / Insound] whose sold out 5/27 show at Pianos was the best I’ve seen in a long time.

Check out the following two videos from the set (both captured by Jessi, who put together a great write-up of the night). First song is “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms,” and second is “My Backwards Walk” (whose silly start was due to some hilarious banter just before).

Does It Offend You Yeah?, Beirut, and British Sea Power (twice) are #2-5 on my list, in that order. I already wrote about how fantastic this combination of bands turned out to be in my 3 Shows in 3 Days post.

Then, Ottawa’s The Acorn [Myspace/Insound] were lovely as ever at Union Hall — helping to take the edge off after the Kentucky Derby death of Eight Belles on 5/3. The photo below was taken by Dave of Bumpershine (more here).



And last, but only barely least, were Muggabears [Myspace/Insound], who I wanted to see after hearing Thom Yorke digs them, only to find out that isn’t true. In any case, their 5/25 set at the Knitting Factory was a solid way to wrap up a fantastic month of live music.