CHVRCHES singer Lauren Mayberry joined The National onstage on Wednesday night for a cover of Frightened Rabbit’s song “My Backwards Walk”. Fittingly, the performance took place in Glasgow, Scotland, the place CHVRCHES and Frightened Rabbit have long called home.
The National were playing their first of two sets as part of the Summer Nights at the Bandstand music festival when Matt Berninger welcomed out Mayberry (via NME). With Mayberry taking a spot beside the band’s backing singers (Pauline de Lassus, Eve Owens, and This Is the Kit’s Kate Stables), they sang a heartbreaking rendition of The Midnight Organ Fight cut as a tribute to late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. In the rain, no less.
(Listen: Remembering Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison)
Last year, Hutchison died by suicide at just 36 years old. To honor his legacy, the rest of the band organized a tribute compilation called Tiny Changes: A Celebration Of The Midnight Organ Fight, which came out last month. Mayberry and The National’s multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner teamed to contribute a cover of “Who’d You Kill Now” to the effort. The fact that The National and CHVRCHES’ vocalist chose to perform a different song for their live cover demonstrates their familiarity with Frightened Rabbit’s catalog as well as the spot Hutchison takes up in their hearts.
Watch fan footage of The National and Mayberry performing “My Backwards Walk” below.
Mayberry also joined The National for “I Need My Girl”, a song they’ve performed together numerous times in the past. Watch that footage below.
Below, revisit Kyle Meredith With…’s tribute to Hutchison, which features three archival interviews with the late Frightened Rabbit singer-songwriter.
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