When Frank Turner comes on to a stage at a gig, it is not merely a normal reaction from the audience. He is greeted on to stage by a roaring crowd which radiates excitement It’s characteristic at his gigs for the crowd to usually chant every single word they can to his songs but there was a dramatic difference here. Frank opened with a new song.
As a seasoned Frank Turner fan, him opening with ‘Four Simple Words’ completely threw me and also the majority of the crowd. That was up until the realisation that like almost every Frank Turner song, you could pretty much learn the chorus the first time of hearing it and be able to join in with the crowds congregated screaming.
Fortunately, however, Frank didn’t stick to new songs and only dotted a few throughout the gig. It was an odd choosing by my judgment however; it stunted the rhythm of the gig as did Frank’s solo performance of ‘The Real Damage’, ‘Song for Eva Mae’ and ‘Anymore’ in the middle of the gig. The solo was heartfelt but you expect something different when you go to a Frank Turner show. But he did bring out the classics as well. ‘The Road’ and ‘Reasons Not to Be an Idiot’ were but a few of the massive crowd pleasers. Never before have I seen a crowd so infused and united. It was akin to some sort of worship at several points.
Frank unwittingly started the ‘STEVE!’ chant at one point, which proved a good laugh.The best part about any Frank Turner performance is the ability to be almost unified under the banner of ‘Turner-ites’ and that was no less apparent than when he played ‘Photosynthesis’ where everyone abided by the rules of the sitting game, managing to get at least one thousand people to sit down.
I would implore anyone to go to see him live and although new songs and a rather self-indulgent solo stunted this show in places, overall, it still had an absolutely buzzing and friendly atmosphere, with Frank’s classics shining like they never have before, completely captivating the audience.