One could get exhausted just watching Frank Turner on stage. For close to two hours, he sang his heart out, danced, bounced, shamelessly hammed it up, and cajoled the crowd to enjoy themselves. And boy did we enjoy ourselves! With the cost of energy escalating, there should be some method of hooking Frank’s unbounded power to the national grid.
Frank informs us that tonight is his 2,596th show, and his joy for performing remains totally undiminished. That joy is matched by the musicality and exuberance of his band The Sleeping Souls.
‘The Gathering’ is Turner’s manifesto to his fans, and an invite to come together and party after two years of Covid restrictions.
The first time the beat drops in the bar, it’s going to be biblical. The second the singalong starts, it’s going to be sensational.
Sounds like a decent review of his own gig.
Frank tells the assembled masses that there are two rules at one of his shows. The second rule is; if you know the words, sing along. The first is don’t be a dickhead. Be considerate and kind to others around, while you’re having a good time. Maybe this rule should be compulsory at all gigs.
The material tonight, as one might expect, is a mix from his extensive back-catalogue, and tracks from his recent number one album ‘FTHC’. It’s Frank’s best album yet, in my opinion, touching on a wide spectrum of issues from mental health and suicide to transgender acceptance and drug use; heady issues, delivered with an honesty and a power that is totally compelling.
‘Miranda’ is Frank’s most personal song yet. He has sung in the past of his difficult relationship with his emotionally abusive father, but this song adds a new chapter and direction to the relationship. Following a long period of estrangement, his father came out as a transgender woman, and with it came a thawing, and an improvement in that connection.
Back on stage, Frank slowed the tempo down with a mini solo set, including a perfectly judged ‘Balthazar Impresario’, leading into a huge singalong of the Turner mantra, ‘Be More Kind’.
That is the real magic displayed by Frank Turner. He can go from huge punk, air-punching, catchy anthems, to hugely sensitive and poignant moments of stark introspection.
Such a moment is captured in the hugely affecting ‘A Wave Across A Bay’, written in the wake of the suicide of his friend, Scott Hutchinson, lead singer of Frightened Rabbit.
There must have been a moment, just before you hit the water when you were filled with a sense of peace and understanding. With the wind in your hair and a light in your eyes, as you realised you were finally escaping. But somehow in the moment, you miraculously miss it like a wave across a bay ever breaking.
The encore was back to high-energy rock, with the crowd enthusiastically singing along at the top of their lungs.
Four years from his last Belfast gig, the crowd basked in the post-gig glow of a hugely enjoyable show by one of the best live acts currently touring.