Few acts can command the fervent live following that Frank Turner can. With a relentless touring schedule that recently saw Turner celebrate his 3,000th solo gig, he has steadily grown a huge and passionate fan-base, many of whom attend multiple shows; these fans know all the words to all the songs by heart and come ready to belt them out. When played live, the songs are fast, dynamic and played with an intensity that directly descends from Turner’s days in punk band Million Dead before he set out alone playing folk songs on an acoustic guitar. His crowds project an equally emotional, physical response in a reciprocal exchange of energy and passion. The audiences at his shows tend to be signed-up, excitable fans, indeed, and fully commit to the experience. Frank spoke to AUK recently about the touring lifestyle – check out the interview here.
Turner likes to support new and independent music whenever he can. To this end, he decided that on this leg of the tour, he would give an opportunity to a local, unsigned act to open each evening. He held a competition to find the right artists and listened to over 300 submissions. In Norwich, the opener was Norfolk’s own Lucy Grubb, a singer with a pure voice that’s just right for her brand of country music. Back in 2023, Lucy came third place in AUK’s Twang Factor 3 with her song ‘18 Miles’. I’ve seen her perform previously at a Songwriters’ Circle in Cambridge when her tuneful country songs were received well. Tonight, she began with the rhythmic strum of ‘Storm’, one of her strongest songs. Another highlight was ‘Worrying for Nothin”, written, “…for all those anxious cowboys out there.” This will be the title track from her forthcoming debut album, which follows three previous EPs. Having been born and raised in the local area, it clearly meant a lot to Grubb to be playing the UEA in Norwich.
The main support act for the evening was Amigo The Devil, led by singer-songwriter Danny Kiranos. Beginning with ‘Murder at the Bingo Hall’, Kiranos encouraged us to listen carefully…“There’s no murder!” Almost jaunty in its rhythms and tunefulness, this is typical of Amigo the Devil’s songs: dark subject matter, threaded through with dark humour. With a full band, the sound was full, and there was plenty of interplay between the musicians, who all appeared to be having great fun on stage, a feeling that transmitted to the audience. Next up was ‘It’s All Gone’ from recent album ‘Yours Until the War is Over’. The twanging of Kiranos’s banjo contrasted with the gruffness of his vocal, which was also a feature of the next song, ‘Once Upon a Time at Texaco Pt. 1′, in which he talked, growled and sang his way through the story about a hold up of a petrol station that goes wrong. A manic strum raised the energy levels before everything slowed down for an atmospheric ‘Hell and You’ from ‘Volume 1′, the debut album. One of the show’s most powerful moments was when the music stopped and Kiranos carried on singing unaccompanied, his voice edgy. His stories and quirky jokes drew much laughter from the crowd, particularly the inspiration for the song ‘Husband’, which features sweetly-picked guitar and a lovely vocal melody, contrasting with the surprising wish expressed in the lyrics. There was more wonderful humour in the words for recent song ‘My Body is a Dive Bar’ before Amigo the Devil concluded their support slot with ‘Hungover in Jonestown’ from 2018’s ‘Everything is Fine’ which featured a thumping bass line and notes up and down the keyboard. Full of vivid language and metaphors, this song is memorable for the line: “Life is a joke, and death is the punchline.” There were plenty in the audience already familiar with Amigo the Devil, who also won over plenty of new fans thanks to their irreverent jokes and tales, effective audience interaction, intriguing words and themes, enthusiastic performance and compelling tunes.
When he took to the stage, Frank Turner announced that this was his 3,020th show and his 18th in Norwich and, to keep coming back so often, he must enjoy the audiences here. The venue at UEA has a tightly-packed square in front of the stage with steps down into it from the bar and surrounding areas; it’s an incredibly hot, compressed space with minimal space to move, helping to generate a sizzling atmosphere. Turner and The Sleeping Souls launched into three of their fastest, most energetic songs in quick succession: ‘No Thank You for the Music’, ‘Girl From the Record Shop’ and ‘1933′. The accompanying rush of adrenaline set the tone and energy level for the gig that followed. The first two songs are from the outstanding recent album ‘Undefeated’ and over the course of the show, this album would be represented by seven songs, which all stood up very well against old favourites that may be more familiar to fans and it certainly feels as though many of the newer songs were written with live performances in mind. They positively surge along. Likewise, ‘1933′ has been played frequently on this tour and is guaranteed to get a physical response from the crowd. During this first flurry of songs, there was quite a bit of movement and moshing in the middle before things began to settle down.
The new songs were interspersed with popular tunes from Turner’s now-extensive back catalogue. ‘Recovery’ was next, the sort of song that prompts fans to shout along with every word, emotions worn at the surface. Turner introduced his two rules, familiar to regular gig-goers: firstly, “Don’t be a dickhead,” which is a simple, commendable idea that the way you choose to have a good time shouldn’t spoil it for others, and secondly, “If you know the words, you have to sing along,” something that few people needed reminding of. While Turner’s following seems to be increasingly large, it still has the feel of a cult-collective, an audience of die-hards who have fully absorbed the music and lyrics and are fully immersed in the communal experience. Not singing along was not an option. Audience interaction was regular and positive from the hand-claps during ‘Never Mind the Back Problems’ to the full-on, raucous sing-along of old-favourite ‘Photosynthesis’, for which Frank urged us to, “…put on your dancing shoes and show your best dance moves.” During this song, Turner got everyone to sit or crouch down lower, before leaping up as one for the chanting, anthemic chorus: “And I won’t sit down // And I won’t shut up // And most of all I will not grow up!” Ben Lloyd of The Sleeping Souls delivered fast-paced, twanging electric mandolin, adding brightness to a song that is already rousing and uplifting.
On ‘Letters’, from his 10th album ‘Undefeated’, Turner emphasised the role of bassist Tarrant Anderson, who has played with him throughout all those records. There was to be a rare bass solo and Anderson was encouraged to stand atop one of the boxes at the front of the stage, which was jokingly referred to as a, “…glory box.” Anderson laughed along, saying that he was yet to see a risk assessment for the glory boxes, signed off by a competent health and safety person. This was a great performance with pounding drums, swirling keys and, of course, huge cheers when Anderson mounted the glory box for his solo. The sole song from ‘FTHC’ was ‘Haven’t Been Doing So Well’ with some searing electric guitar before seamlessly moving into the rhythmic riff of ‘Plain Sailing Weather’. Turner thanked his touring partners Amigo the Devil, who he said were dangerous people to be on tour with but, “…lots of fun!” before the quieter strum of ‘If Ever I Stray’ which burst into life partway through. There were big responses to ‘The Next Storm’ and ‘East Finchley’, a song that references, “…the ticket enforcement polices of the underground system in the 1990s,” and is about the the lifeline his girlfriend’s parents gave him when he was locked out at home, aged 15 or 16. There were slow, pounding drums, loud choruses and particularly powerful moments when the instrumentation settled down, exposing just Frank’s tuneful voice and words. This part of the set concluded with the ranging vocal melody of ‘Long Live the Queen’, the band on the glory boxes and the crowd clapping along to an emotional but uplifting tribute to a friend.
Turner praised the crew members who routinely start work first and finish last and who swapped the spit-filled microphone for a fresh one. Then, for the next three songs, he played solo and acoustic, commanding the stage alone. For the first time in several years, he played ‘Sister Rosetta’ from the historical ‘No Man’s Land’ which told the stories of important women. His acoustic strum was really bright while the flowing vocals tumbled out in a current of notes. As it had been a long time since it was last performed, the song, according to Turner, “Went better than I expected it to – that’s what it’s going to say on my tombstone!” Turner then talked about being scared in today’s world, noting that there are fights to be had for people with empathy. He wrote ‘Be More Kind’ about the politics of 2016, imagining that things would get better, but the song, “…didn’t have quite the impact on the world that I hoped for.” His gentle but insistent picking, tuneful, plaintive singing and simple, direct message elicited a great response from the crowd. It was all the more powerful for being played solo, making it more of a heartfelt plea for understanding in a complicated world. The acoustic section closed with ‘The Ballad of Me and My Friends’, an oldie from ‘Sleep is for the Week’, his debut full-length solo album from early 2007. It prompted him to talk about his early career and the importance of independent music venues.
The full band returned for ‘I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous’ – Turner’s voice soared and his words captured the ambition and aspiration amongst friends, the importance of shared memories and the inevitable passing of time. Older songs like this one, from 2008’s ‘Love, Ire & Song’, remain ever-popular amongst the fan base and have generated an enthusiastic reaction. ‘I Am Disappeared’ was an incredible barrage of sound as it built to its crescendo with Turner belting it out from the glory box. Everyone was obliged to join in with the chorus for the recent single ‘Do One’, a simple request requiring the repetition of a single word. There were several practices, in which the audience was pushed to give more and compared to other crowds. He joked about how he would often make the comparison with another local, unpopular town, a rival to the current crowd in order to motivate, but that hadn’t gone down so well in the Balkans when comparing Zagreb and Belgrade. Next up were two from the back catalogue: ‘Try This at Home’ and the ever-present ‘I Still Believe’. The latter created more movement in the crowd while Tarrant Anderson really attacked the bass. There was plenty of audience interaction and some brilliant dance moves on show.
When the band returned to the stage for the encore, Turner spoke about how comfortable and welcome he felt in this venue and amongst this crowd. He had grown up feeling unwelcome and still sometimes has bad days when he’s scared of audiences and shows and feels a sense of impostor syndrome. In this context, he sang ‘Somewhere Inbetween’ from the latest album. The intensity of this performance was beyond anything else during the show and, indeed, beyond that of almost any other artists’ performances I’ve witnessed. The pure, raw emotions generated by the words and meaning of the song were barely contained; they were etched across Turner’s face and evident in the physicality of his delivery, his body contorting and his hands and arms full of tension. There were layers of keys and guitars over thumping drums but it was Turner himself – his voice, lyrics and delivery – who drew all the attention. It may be one of the newer songs, but it felt like one of the most important moments of the evening and seemed to mean more to Frank than any other song he played. I suspect it will remain a fixture on set lists for many years to come.
The final flurry of songs were all energetic regulars, designed to create a closing burst of activity and end on a dynamic high. For ‘Polaroid Picture’, we were all urged to jump up and down and duly obliged. Two personal favourites followed – ‘Get Better’ was a perfect release, the chorus shouted out with feeling, before the communal high of ‘Four Simple Words’. Those four words are, “I want to dance,” and dance we did. Towards the end, the entire room put their hands together over their heads and pirouetted around repeatedly. It’s simple but it’s an act full of giddy joy that left everyone soaring and already looking forward to the next time they would feel this collective rush. For me, it would be two days later.
The sense of release and abandon at a Frank Turner gig is one of the finest things in music. While I was at the Norwich show for review purposes, I also attended the show in Ipswich a couple of nights later as a fan. Freed from taking photos and trying to scribble notes in the dark (which is difficult while people are moshing around you), I was at the second show purely for my own enjoyment, leaning on the barrier at the front for most of the evening before joining the mosh pit for the final few songs. Leaping up and down recklessly for ‘Polaroid Picture’ before shouting through the physical mayhem in the centre for ‘Get Better’, I found the feeling of freedom and community greater than almost any other communal experience, and Ipswich wasn’t even a particularly physical gig as Turner’s shows go. A highlight of the Ipswich gig was when members of Amigo the Devil crowd-surfed to the mixing desk to deliver tequila and cake to a crew member for his birthday. Of course, Frank also did his customary crowd surf towards the end of the show and in the crush myself and a few others went flying – all part of the experience as we helped one another up. Indeed, as I finish writing this review over a week after the Norwich performance, I am still a mass of aches and pains, struggling to walk on sore feet and stiff joints and I tell myself in the same breath that I’m too old for this and that I’ll never be too old for this. If you’ve never experienced a Frank Turner gig, do it just one time and get yourself down near the front.
What’s brilliant review! Frank and the band are always amazing. Amigo the devil was an introduction from Frank and one I’m super happy to have made. Thanks for including all of the bands and crew in your review – that never happens!