GIG REVIEWS
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GIG REVIEWS |
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Frank Turner
@ York Fibbers 1.04.08 www.vanguard-online.co.uk I must admit, I knew very little about Frank Turner when I turned up to Fibbers one cool April evening. I was expecting the gig to be another one of those ones where the band could count the crowd on their fingers and still have enough left over to play their respective instruments. I was wrong. Halfway through the excellent second support (Ciara Haidar, who Frank later admitted to having coerced into joining the band full time), the venue was sold out and I could barely make my way to the bar. Perhaps things were taking a turn for the better. When Frank rocked up on stage, earlier than planned as the second support, Oppenheimer, were unable to play due to a “computer-related disaster”, he took the venue in his stride and jumped into his set with the cracking – and cleverly-written - “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous”. The crowd sang along, Frank visibly grew in confidence and my faith in the evening became even stronger. The second song, with very much an REM “Imitation Of Life” sound to it, was the first of many that really showed Frank’s influences. Across the evening I would notice Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, Richard Thompson, The Byrds, The Eagles, Martin Carthy and many more facets of the US Singer-Songwriter tradition that began with Bob Dylan and continues today. Quite a back catalogue. With each song came another distinct tune, cleverly-written lyrics (on the whole anyway, I did catch him using bankers/wankers once, but let him get away with it…) and a whole load of audience participation. For an artist I have never heard before, the songs really stuck in my mind, which is an admirable trait. I feel I should take a moment here to really give this some context. I have dragged my wife along to all kinds of gigs in the past. Some have been artists that she recognised and could identify the songs, others death metal, where she found the crowd more interesting than the band – and there was even one instance when the two of us made up 50% of the audience one wet Sunday afternoon. But in the case of Frank Turner, who she has never heard of before, she really enjoyed it. “This is actually one of the bands that the wife is glad to be dragged along to” she wrote in my miniscule gig notebook, while I was at the bar, “so if she enjoyed it, it’s bound to be a crowd pleaser. It was the clever lyrics and variety of melodies than won me over”. Quite an accolade. Some of the songs that particularly stood out this evening were album title “Love, Ire & Song”, with its face-slapping Billy Bragg edge; “Imperfect Tense”, with its strong punk influences; “Long Live The Queen”, which, he explained, is a ballad written to a friend who died from cancer, and the haunting “Sealegs” on which he duetted with Ciara - Kate Nash-esque support, band keyboardist and perfect harmony to Frank’s growling vocals. He may talk faster than Zane Lowe when he’s REALLY excited and swear more than a gangland hip-hop sailor, but Frank Turner puts on one hell of a show, regardless of whether or not you’ve ever heard of him. Highly recommended. |