Misogyny in Music: A Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes Live Review
“This is your place. We are going to create a safe environment that you deserve.”
Ten years ago, Frank Carter was part of a band called Gallows,
an English hardcore punk band that made its way into major American festivals
such as South By Southwest and Vans Warped Tour. His latest project, Frank
Carter and The Rattlesnakes, recently embarked on a 15-date summer US tour with
a stop at Cobra Lounge in Chicago. The tour was to promote their newest record,
Modern Ruin.
If it was unclear how noteworthy the show was going to be,
the first five minutes alone were enough to prove any spectator wrong. The
moment Carter stepped out onto the stage, his smile was so bright that the
still-lingering sun over the Chicago skyline was put to shame. The look on his
face was incredibly genuine; as if he hadn’t expected a single person to be
standing in that room.
The audience did more than stand. The audience held Carter up
as he bounded into the crowd and did a one-arm handstand. The audience started
a mosh pit that ran from the front of the stage to the front of the venue. The
audience held up and supported women as they alone crowd surfed from the stage.
Throughout their set, a central theme made its way into
conversation between songs. It started near the beginning, when a moment in
between songs was dedicated to the topic of women feeling unsafe in the
confides of music venues. Carter talked about the enjoyment that men typically
have as a concert-goer – the ability to stand in a crowd with a clear view of
the stage and without the objectifying manner in which someone speaks to them.
While the majority of the male concert-goers are watching the show and participating
in circle pits and stage dives, women are left off to the side; much too afraid
of the repercussions that a woman might face if joining in.
Far too many times, stage diving as a woman ends with inappropriate
touching or lack of support in making their way across a crowd. But that night,
Carter made a point to tell everyone in the audience that women deserve the
right to enjoy a show as much as men. “Most importantly, they are your equal,”
he said.
Now that Frank is a husband and a father, he looks at every
woman with the same thought process: ‘That is someone’s mother, someone’s
daughter.’ He doesn’t want his wife or his daughter to experience a world where
women are not viewed the same as men. It’s a concept he didn’t even think about
as a member of Gallows, but with this project he knows he wants to spread a
message of more than just good music. “I wish I had this perspective 10 years
ago,” he said.
For one night at Cobra Lounge, female fans climbed onto the
small stage and looked out into the crowd. They knew a group of hands would
catch them the minute their feet left the stage and wouldn’t leave until their
feet were safely planted back on the ground. Off to the side, Frank Carter and
the Rattlesnakes performed. And for that night, everyone was equal.
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