They often come in two’s, do Frank gigs…!
A welcome double-header after a recent more unsuccessful duo, this; I had tickets for 2 gigs last week by promising Scandi indie-poppers Girl Scout, but for various reasons never got to either! Anyhoops, impassioned and inclusive alt-folk-punk orator, and “live” favourite down our way, Mr. Francis Edward Turner, had announced a massive one-off date at North London’s palatial yet out-of-the-way Ally Pally, to celebrate his milestone 3,000th Show, and immediately this felt like a potential Tribal Gathering, one definitely not to be missed. So as soon as tix went on sale, I booked for myself and Frank acolyte Logan, before they all sold out. In a day. Yup, all 10,000. Wow. Might be right about that Tribal Gathering vibe… Frank then added a couple of warm-up dates on the week leading up to said gig, presumably also to get the gig count right, so we also booked for gig 2,998, at Frome’s splendid Cheese and Grain, which at 800 capacity is roughly 1/12th of the size of the Pally! So, as far as counts go, Frank’s gigs 2,998 and 3,000 are my own 1,369 and 1,370, also representing my 16th and 17th “live” Frank experiences!
Frome first then; the plan was for Rach to join me, but she sensibly blew this one off after her recent hospital stay. However, gig buddy Jeremy, who’d jumped too late for a Frank ticket himself, was happy to take up Rach’s spare, so after a difficult journey down I met the man outside, chatting until Matt and Liz arrived. We then popped into the already-full venue just as early-starting solo acoustic guy Ben Brown was reciting the myriad ways he can be contacted, including his dad’s mobile number (the affable brawny bearded Ben quipping, “ask him to move his car!”). He did play some music too, a pretty wedding song ditty and a tape loop accompanied final number of summery indie pop, during which he also overlaid his own vocal percussion a la Gaz Brookfield! Had a wander around after this decent set, running into “2000 Trees”/ “Shiiine On” buddy Mel and his charming partner Tammy, before meeting up with Jeremy again, halfway back house left, for main support Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun. I’d anticipated some folky punky shenanigans from this veteran lot, but opener “Conditional Love” was instead an expansive, chunky and emotive rocker with a naggingly familiar big choral hook. This set the tone for their set, with brooding, bass driven verses building to hooky, harmonic terrace chant level choruses, with myriad rock references for me (an early slower number recalled the strum of 80’s faves The Big Dish, one number resembled the bolshy arena rock of “Only Revolutions”-era Biffy Clyro, and “Medicine” for me even had shades of latter-day Mega City Four!). I liked them fine; should have liked them better, but I just found it a bit safe, formulaic I guess, with final number “You And I” even coming across like “Wonderwall”, albeit with a better chorus!
Grabbed some air outside with Matt and Liz, then we rejoined Jeremy in the now-rammed venue just before Frank took the stage, solo and prompt at 9 p.m., leading the raucous singalong of “The Ballad Of Me And My Friends”, the enthusiastic crowd already giving it full beans on the, “definitely going to hell!” line. The Sleeping Souls joined him onstage during the slow build of “Prufrock”, then “I Still Believe” saw Frank asking for a call and response from the crowd, The Man deadpanning at its conclusion, “you know we’ve been building up to one big [gig] number… and this is it! 2,998!”
A warm-up for the Saturday biggie this
might be, but Frank set to his task as usual, laying out the ground rules (and
being amused at the audience chanting back Rule 1 – “don’t be a dickhead!”)
then attacking the set with his trademark vim, venom and kinetic fervour – this
also despite twisting his ankle a couple of days ago! A couple of newer numbers
from last year’s “Undefeated” (“we’re technically still touring [it]”,
according to Frank) in frantic, first-pumping “No Thank You For The Music” and
the more ebullient “Girl From The Record Shop” preceded a quite astonishing
early double; firstly came the raw, bilious and still horribly relevant “1933”,
then, after Frank introduced home-town drummer, “Make-A-Wish winner, Callum
from Frome!” the happily-restored “I Am Disappeared” was my absolute set
highlight, haunting and elegiac, with the stark piano accompaniment adding to its
grandeur. Heartbreaking and hopeful in equal measure.
The snaking Thin Lizzy dual riffery of “Haven’t Been Doing So Well” was an abrupt mood-changer, then the impassioned “Plain Sailing Weather”, with its full-on angst-ridden emo outro, was utterly tremendous, almost – almost – topping “Disappeared” for me. An acoustic interlude saw Frank comment, “it’s 2025, and the world just keeps getting shitter!” before an exhortation for kindness and decency, underlined by the plaintive “Be More Kind”. As if to illustrate his point, a punter fainted behind us shortly afterwards, immediately being given attention by the quick-acting venue medics (well done folks) and being ushered outside for some air, ironically as an unaware Frank was running through “Recovery”! A circle pit for “Photosynthesis” ended the set proper, after which a widescreen and anthemic “Polaroid Picture” and the full-on-punk thrash of “Four Simple Words” highlighted the encore, following a quite brilliant showing. If this is just the warm-up, then, wow, Saturday’s going to be off the charts…
My companions headed out and I wandered to
the front, more in hope than expectation, but promoter Kieran saw me from the
wings and sorted out Franks’ own list for me. Chap! Chatted to Ed and Linda
outside under the awning, then, as the car park egress was considerably slower
than usual, I chanced my arm around backstage, a short wait being rewarded with
a bit of face time with Frank himself, my taking the opportunity to show him my
epic photo of Logan crowdsurfing during Frank’s “2000 Trees” set last year! A
breakneck blast back saw me home at half past midnight, eagerly awaiting The
Big One on Saturday…
Ran into old friends Terry and Rich and
their respective better halves afterwards – not seen Rich in particular for
years! Swapped news before popping back into our spot, house left, for The
Lottery Winners. A band I’d been meaning to check out for some time (indeed, a
band who I saw waaay back in 2016 on a Wonder Stuff undercard (gig 981),
shamefully being too preoccupied with a conversation with Mr. Russ Hunt to pay
proper attention), their opener “Worry” was pleasant breezy indie-Britpop, like
a moodier Lightning Seeds, and the subsequent “Turn Around” a knockabout bit of
audience participation fun, vocalist and hyper-ball of energy Thom Rylance
remarking at the end, “that was the best experience I’ve ever had onstage!”
However, just as I was close to dismissing them as flimsy throwaway indie
chancers, “Letter To Myself” totally put me in my judgemental place; a paean of
self-affirmation from the vocalist to his 12-year old former self, this was plaintive
and uplifting in equal measure, and featured a superb harmonic hook-laden
chorus. Tune! They had me after that; “we love Frank and want to follow his
work ethic, [but] this is our 3001st show so he needs to pull his
fucking socks up!” quipped Rylance before the big anthemic hook of “Start
Again”, his nervous enthusiasm and onstage banter infectious, then closer
“Burning House” was another buoyant and annoyingly catchy piece of Shiiiny happy
pop, earning a deserved ovation from Frank’s massive. Great stuff!
I nipped out to get Logan a drink, then lost him to the impending mosh just before the lights dimmed and a 4-digit counter appeared on the backdrop, ticking up to No. 3,000 to huge cheers… predictable, but a nice touch of theatre. Then Frank appeared, solo again… straight into the manifesto-setting and roof-raising “Ballad Of Me And My Friends”, welcoming on the band for the subsequent “Prufrock” and again coaxing a mass singalong from the 10,000 strong Frank Turner All-Inclusive All-Voice Choir for “I Still Believe”, it becoming apparent that we were following a very similar list pattern to Frome’s on Wednesday…
So it transpired; the set was in fact exactly
the same as per Frome, gig no. 2,998 clearly passing muster as prep for the big
3-oh oh oh. The obvious difference was, whereas 800 of us hardy souls were
singing back on Wednesday, this time it was the full 10,000, creating a joyous,
inclusive and participatory atmosphere, underlined of course by Frank’s own
passionate performance, plus his usual gig rules of enjoyment but not at
others’ expense, and singing along whenever possible. “I’ve been looking
forward to this sentence for a while… welcome to show Three Thousand!”
announced the ebullient Frank to a massive ovation, before the frantic hoedown
of “Try This At Home” segued seamlessly into the expansive and anthemic “Next
Storm”.
That mid-set salvo of “1933”, “Disappeared” (again my set highlight tonight) and “Plain Sailing Weather” were as savage and heartbreaking as last time; then after Frank commented, “I love [Ally Pally]; it’s the only non-Royal Palace in the UK!”, a poignant and emotional (and difficult to sing, according to Frank) “Somewhere In Between” was another brilliant highlight, recalling the widescreen hook of American Hi-Fi’s classic “Wall Of Sound”. The solo interlude showcased a lovely “Be More Kind”, the audience holding phone lights aloft and prompting Frank to comment, “it’s beautiful – and cheaper than how Coldplay do it!”; then my slightly breathless son returned from mosh duty, Logan deciding to take an extreme right barrier spot instead, and I joined him for the set denouement of “Recovery” (again ironic as Logan was still getting his breath back after his mosh outing!) and closer “Photosynthesis”.
“3,000 Shows!” announced Frank again during the encore, “There are people who’ve done more – John Otway, Blue Oyster Cult… [but] we’ll keep coming around if you keep having us!” On this form, Frank… yeah, we will! Final number “Four Simple Words” saw Frank launch into the mosh for one final punk rock celebration and also saw us miss the confetti shower and band pic from the stage, as we headed off halfway through to beat the rush. This nearly backfired as we took the wrong turning out of the venue, but still cleared the car park in short order, onto the North Circular 15 minutes after getting in the motor, home just after 1 am. So, two excellent Frank Turner shows as expected, and I’m glad we were there to Celebrate the Milestone with The Man. That in particular was, as expected, a proper and triumphant Tribal Gathering!
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