Arriving extra early on an overcast Monday night, there was already a line out the door at Mercury Lounge, the tiny SoHo neighborhood music venue that hosts many up and coming darlings of Rock. This is usually not the place for massive international sensations like Frank Carter and his band The Rattlesnakes usually play. Unless they want to. That’s right, actually. If FCATR wanted to perform at larger venues, they would. They want the intimacy of bricks walls, low ceilings, and no barricades. They want to smell the crowd and get sweaty together. They want to jump around like crazy, but still see the whites of their fans’ eyes and speak directly to their hearts. For such a modern, slick band that makes incredible music, this is extremely Punk Rock. Bands used to mean more back then and were able to use music to take us someplace else for a little while. A lot of things tonight kept bringing me back to this feeling.
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