We've all had our heart crushed by someone at some time. The experience in excruciating and its one not often discussed, because you don't need to try and explain the feeling of misery to someone. Yet, we seek solace in music, because it can be a friend when none are around. But how often does someone nail the occurrence making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Seven songs into Frightened Rabbit's Chicago show, "I Feel Better" took the evening into overdrive. Billy Kennedy's bass socked you like a sped up heartbeat while drummer Grant Hutchinson mimicked the pain on his weeping drum fills. But above all of it were the picturesque lyrics delivered with transcendent empathy by Scott Hutchinson. The band delivered the song like a group excising all previous bad relationships. A way to purge pain became an ode to win a girl back, yet it is a pure pop epiphany. Finding inspiration from anguish and ambiguity, Frightened Rabbit taps into lives most commons themes of love and loss. These are hardly novel topics for a band to tackle, but the concentration with which their music is produced elevates their sound in ways other indie bands can only dream about. Listening to their records, you feel the alienation and defeat rupture out of your speakers. You immediately forge a bond with the band for their lamenting lyrics and piercing sonic landscapes. The Midnight Organ Fight and The Winter of Mixed Drinks don't just house one or two really great songs, but several a piece; a rarity these days for a young indie band. Every band has a few great tunes in them, but Frightened Rabbit seem to have dozens. When I arrived at the House of Blues in Chicago, I was astonished to see they had sold-out the entire hall, on a weeknight no less without much promotion. Over the next 90-minutes, the band summoned up crystalline images of our lives for us to look upon.

I didn't discover this band until recently and as a result, I have had their entire catalog on rotation. Each record has its hidden nuances but above all else the songs beat along to the rhythm of your heart. In concert, the band brought the subtlety, humor and passion for everyone to see. Even more surprising were the sing-a-longs the crowd commenced on several songs, elevating the evening from mere entertainment to performance art of the heart. The show opener, "Things" evolved over a very slow build as Hutchison held both hands on the microphone with spiritual intensity. You watch him and believe every word that leaves his mouth. "The Modern Leper" was unassuming in its swelling reverb accentuated by some ferocious kick-drumming and vocals that all congealed into an explosion of emotion. The line-charging drum attack of "Nothing Like You" brought drummer Grant Hutchison and bassist Billy Kennedy to the forefront. While it's the band's lyrics that pulled at my ear initially, it's the rhythm section where the heart of the band lies. They are the spine of the band. The folkish feel of their catalog (three studio albums and one live one to date) may put an emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitars, but the rhythm of Kennedy and Hutchinson flesh out the raw feelings engaging the listener on a more profound basis.

Despite rippling emotions pouring out of the songs, the live performances were wholly unique. Watching "The Wrestle" was a joy if for no other reason than drummer Hutchison mouthed most of the words. "Be Less Rude", one of the first songs composed by the group leaps out in concert, and the spirited "Living in Colour" found the crowd utilizing their hands clapping along to the beat. "My Backwards Walk" found the band holding back. Their music often illuminates the lyrics, but they also know how to best serve the song. Every composition could be given a glistening arrangement, but the songs would bleed into one another and not mean as much. Here the band understated the delivery and it worked as marvelously as their more buoyant numbers. Most acts go for the jugular right from the get go. It takes a load of confidence to allow a song to come undone, relinquish itself from the member's instruments, but Frightened Rabbit has the conviction to know their audience will allow them to unveil its strengths slowly. They build emotions carefully without ever venturing into derivative territory, which they executed wonderfully on "Not Miserable".

Scott Hutchison hit the upper range of his falsetto on "Keep Yourself Warm" but even as his voice slowly creaked, he was relieved by the sweeping the enthusiasm of the crowd. Despite it being a week night and a late start, the crowd was fully engaged playing off the band. Frightened Rabbit found the perfect balance of musical and lyrical inspiration as their music swelled in the sold-out hall until all five members congealed in a brutal expression of rage for a combustive finish. The final song of the evening, "The Loneliness And The Scream" was led by a hypnotizing three-guitar attack. The Winter of Mixed Drinks, released earlier this year, is the band's best and most mature work to date. Crafted with zeal and foolhardy honesty, you can't ignore it and by the reaction of the crowd (none who had left the venue), no one is ignoring this band, if anything; they are relishing their every note. As the reverb of the band's instruments permeated throughout the club and disappeared into the early morning frost, the crowd raucously responded clapping and singing "woh-oh-oh-oh" continually. Scott Hutchinson stood on the stage with his guitar held over his head as he soaked up the enthusiasm. It was a rare moment of transcendence. You start to create art as a way of expressing your inner emotions and you hope that someone somewhere may be inspired by it. Frightened Rabbit have done more than inspire, they've struck a chord with an ever widening audience. This may have been the band's first sell out in a major venue in Chicago but as without question, won't be their last.