There’s always been a fanatical edge to Frank Turner’s supporters. His earnest and sometimes uncomfortably honest lyrics can’t help but attract the strays that constantly feel short changed by what passes for rock and roll nowadays. While before you could spot them in the front rows, mouthing back every word, now they fill entire rooms. Frank Turner can quickly sell out decent sized venues the breadth of the country.
Plug is relatively packed a mere twenty minutes after the doors open, meaning the majority get to see Dive Dive, the band Turner effectively gutted to create his first truly stable backing group. Despite some vicious guitar noise and a song about Planet Of The Apes, this is definitely a warm up for the main event. Afterwards Ed Harcourt dressed as a Victorian undertaker prowls the stage alone, experimenting with loop pedals and antique microphones. It’s an absolute spectacle but there’s never any danger of him stealing the show.
The feeling of community when Frank Turner strides onto the stage is overwhelming. With him and his band dressed in matching shirts and trousers there’s a definite ‘us versus them’ mentality that flows through his set. He knows he’s preaching to the converted this evening but this is the first time in his career that the converted threaten to spill out onto the street. When he coyly asks if “you guys are up for singing some songs with me”, he’s well aware the response will be ferocious. Yes, this might be an old trick picked up from supporting Green Day at their stadium shows but it unites the crowd and sets the ball rolling for a euphoric ninety minutes.
The confidence present in Turner and his band is infectious. Any breaks in singing are filled with every member pogo-ing around the stage or charging at each other like bulls. Between songs, Turner reveals more about his already pretty transparent personality by relaying stories about his Grandma and living on friends’ sofas a few years back. We get a sprinkling of new songs which although are not a departure by any means, are amongst the strongest and most immediate in his canon.
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There’s a solo section which raises the intensity levels with a rarely performed Worse Things Happen At Sea and a new song that explores Turner’s fragility to extremes not seen since his first solo album. When the band return for what Turner wryly describes as a run of “wall to wall hits”, even the most casual fan is swept up with the joyfulness of proceedings. The crowd belts back the chorus of Long Live The Queen, some close to tears, but this is all a precursor for the finale.
With the rest of Dive Dive and Ed Harcourt added to his backing band, Turner closes with a raucous version of Photosynthesis. Laying down his guitar he spends the song pacing the stage and launching into the front rows. Anyone who doubts Turner’s sincerity obviously hasn’t seen him live. While on paper the refrain of “I won’t sit down and I won’t shut up” could be scoffed at, as an end to proceedings it’s a moment of absolute happiness and belonging. After years of hard work Frank Turner now has the momentum to produce something truly special. Whatever the results of his trip to the studio early next year, one thing’s for sure: everyone here will fall for it hook, line and sinker.
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