Francis Edward Turner…
Music journalist and producer Jon Landau once said of a young Bruce Springsteen ‘I saw rock and roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen’. Nearly fifty years later and rock and roll as viewed through the eyes of Springsteen and Landau is dead. If that hyperbolic statement is to be believed then surely Frank Turner is one of the pallbearers carrying the coffin. He’s at least attending the funeral. I imagine he would have made a really creative commiseration card with glue and sparkles and everything!
The Winchester Wizard is about to release his new album Be More Kind and it is barnstorming new single ‘1933’ that gets things started at a packed Sheffield Academy. I mean, ‘1933’ sounds exactly like the Levellers but that’s fine isn’t it? It’s easy to forget how many anthems Frank Turner has released but as ‘Get Better’ follows ‘The Next Storm’ and bleeds into an incendiary ‘Recovery’ the show starts to feel like a greatest hits set.
Not all of Frank’s hits are great however. I have tried to view ‘Make America Great Again’ a number of different ways and, quite frankly, it’s rubbish. The sentiment is mawkish and awkward and the track itself is forgettable, even recalling Weezer at their very worst. And nobody quite does ruining their own legacy like Weezer. Fellow new single ‘Be More Kind’ is much better and it works particularly well in the inclusive safe space that is a Frank Turner show. As ever, Turner constantly checks in with the crowd in a way that is comfortable and genuine, unsurprising for a veteran of over 2000 shows.
‘I Am Disappeared’ is Frank Turner’s most underrated song and it is quite simply a tour de force when played live. ‘The Road’ also goes down well in Yorkshire for its frequent references to the North. It’s like being beyond the wall sometimes in Sheffield (TO THE NORTH).
The acoustic version of ‘The Way I Tend To Be’ always feels a little like a missed opportunity but ‘The Ballad of Me and My Friends’ soars as always. There is a strong argument that no other recording artist has a better one-two in their back pocket than ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘Four Simple Words’. Simply jaw dropping. During the latter Frank wades into the audience and finds a pretty girl to waltz with while the crowd respectfully form a circle around them. It is a genuinely beautiful moment.
When you have seen an artist numerous times across a vast number of years it becomes tempting to define your life by that narrative. Frank Turner at Nottingham Rock City in Spring 2009? The fat drunk years. Frank Turner at Leeds Festival in 2011? The lost years. Frank Turner at Sheffield Academy in 2015? The crap haircut years. So where would Frank Turner at that same venue in 2018 fit in? It is perhaps too early to say but in the absence of a couple of people I have lost since 2015 perhaps these are the dark years. Many of Frank Turner’s lyrics seem particularly salient in the aftermath of a rough couple of years with the refrain from set closer ‘Polaroid Picture’ capturing that state between excitement and regret perfectly:
Let go of the little distractions
Hold close to the ones that you love
Because we won’t all be here this time next year
So while you can take a picture of us
I leave you with this. Cherish Rock City in 2009 and Leeds Festival in 2011 or wherever the fuck you find yourself in 2018. You never know when everything could change.