A number of indie rock mainstays gathered at the Rough Trade venue in Brooklyn last night to pay tribute to the life of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, who died in an apparent suicide earlier this year. Artists including Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Julien Baker, The National’s Aaron Dessner, and Kevin Devine performed tributes to the Scottish singer by covering music from the course of Frightened Rabbit’s career.
Videos from the tribute concert show Gibbard and Dessner performing “My Backwards Walk” from Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight, Baker covering “Holy” from their 2013 album Pedestrian Verse, and Baker and Dessner teaming up for “The Woodpile,” also from Pedestrian Verse. Their tributes are touching and hold special significance for the parties involved: Dessner produced Frightened Rabbit’s final album, 2016’s Painting of a Panic Attack, while Baker appeared on their Recorded Songs EP and Death Cab for Cutie had previously toured with them.
Proceeds from last night’s show will be directed to the Scott Hutchison Fund, a new mental health charity set up by Hutchison’s family. Watch fan-shot video of the tribute performances below.
