On a pouring wet evening in Glasgow its obvious the weather hasn’t stopped people coming out tonight. Glasgow’s legendary Barrowlands was already busy when I arrived just as the first support act Emily Clay & The Red Halo (who I actually wanted to see) had come off the stage. Managing to sell out the 2000 (or so) capacity venue is a feat in itself for an artist these days, showing that Frank Turner really has become an established artist in his own right. Now touring to promote album number four he’s come a long way.
The next support act came in the shape of punk band Against Me! who seemed to have quite the following as it was, and also pleasantly surpised me. When they burst on the stage their combined vocal style instantly reminded me of The Clash, along with folk elements to fast punk music, so in a sense they were a perfect support for Frank Turner. They played a great, relentless set not taking much time to stop for breath. Whipping the crowd into shape they had people singing and jumping along, a mosh pit even formed! Politicly charged lyrics paired with themes of alienation (see “I Was Born A Teenage Anarchist”) they reminded me of The Gaslight Anthem. After all that we were ready for more!
As the house lights dimmed Frank Turner took to the stage to a rapturous applause. With the orchestrated wind band opening of his newest album Eulogy the whole crowd knew about every word and was an excellent start to the evening. Bursting into Try This At Home I was surprised just how his fans knew all the words to his very wordy songs. Another thing I noticed about the crowd was the wide appeal from both younger and older to men and women all of different social standings and groups. Again showing how Frank Turner has become an established artist with a wide appeal.
Rubbish picture taken on my phone but you get the idea.
Playing an older song Wisdom Teeth he described how he’d played The Barrowlands with his previous band The Million Dead and it was dream of his to do a sell out headline show there, to yet more applause. One thing I noticed the first time I saw Turner is that he can hold an audience even when talking and is a charismatic front man with passion for his music. After being joined on stage my support band Emily Clay & The Red Clay Turner blasted into more hits including I Knew Prufrock Before He got Famous and Long Live The Queen, Turner gave a tribute of his own to the late Queen frontman Feddie Mercury who on that date had passed away twenty years ago that day by playing Somebody To Love.
Not a professional picture I stole from facebook...
Coming out to do an encore by himself again he thanked the audience and thanked Scotland and explained how he loved playing in our country,even name checking local bar and venue Bar Bloc since its obviously somewhere he played a lot. Cowboy Chords was a new song he then played called that because he said it “uses all the easy chords”, followed by fan favourite sing-a-long The Ballad of Me And My Friends. Then to finish he played Photosynthesis encouraging the whole crowd to sing-a-long (the hardcore fans, the plus ones, the not sures, the bar staff, the security guards), in what he described as music helping to being people together in these times. Over-all it was a great performance by an artist who I’m sure will still be around for years to come!
4.5/5 A brilliant night!
The Practice Room 