I've decided to write a review of Frank Turner at Brixton Academy, 12/12/10. Not only because it was one of the best gigs I've been to, but also because I think Frank Turner is one of the most talent artists currently working. His lyrics are clever and inspiring at the same time as expressing exactly what he feels and along with his folk/punk music, he manages to produce some of the best music currently around.
So my friend and I turned up to Brixton Academy at 2 o'clock. The gig didn't start till 7. We were the first people there, perhaps a tad early, so we decided to go to Nandos, at least until they changed the sign from the gig held there the night before. So we finished our Nandos, stocked up on food supplies (well a 2 litre bottle of coke and fizzy apple laces, god bless poundland) and waited. In a way, I think this is one of the best parts. In a way I prefer it to waiting inside right before the gigs about to start. We meet some nice people, all because we have one thing in common, a shared passion for music and a love for Frank Turner. I don't know how to explain it, but it's probably one of the only places (in London anyway) where you can talk to a complete stranger and not be looked at as if you're mad.
Also, the best part of the evening came, well in the afternoon. My friend, another Frank Turner fan and I were sitting on the steps to Brixton Academy talking when suddenly I saw somebody turn the corner. "OH MY GOD IT'S FRANK TURNER!" I said to my friend. She didn't believe me at first (to be fair, we'd both said it to each other about 6 or 7 times before that when it was just another man with a beard). As soon as we realised we stood up and ran straight to meet him. He was really lovely and very happy to give us autographs and have a photo with us.
So after that, we waited another few hours and were finally let in. This was, of course, after all of the O2 priority customers, no matter how long they'd been waiting. Yes, despite being the first people there, we were let in after about 1,000 other people. I think it's awful that just because you're with a certain phone provider, you can be let in before people who had been waitinf 4 or 5 hours, even if you onlyarrive there at 6.30. Personally, This has made me want to avoid O2 venues in the future.
So we got in to the venue and, despite being let in to the venue after 1,000 or so people, we got up against the barrier. We saw the support acts, Dive Dive was first, who I thought were good but not amazing. After that was Ed Harcourt, who I thought was really good. It was just him on stage, but he used loads of different instruments it weird ways, I'd definately see him again.
So after that, Frank Turner came on stage. It was an energetic start, he opened with the short but sweet "Eulogy" and then went on to "Poetry of the Deed" along with a few other hits. Right from the moment he stepped on the stage, his energy captivated the whole audience and it was quite clear he was having as much fun, if not more, than us. Frank Turner certainly involved the audience than most of the aritsts I've seen before. Before he played "I Still Believe", he made sure the whole audience knew when to sing with him.
Frank Turner seems to involve the audience in another way. Between pretty almost every song, he stops and talks, though it seems more like he's having a personal chat. Frank Turner told us about his Grandma trying to get him drunk when he was ten, a messy night he had in New Orleanes and quite a few other anecdotes, before introducing his songs with lines such as "Please sing along, it makes my mum feel like I've got a real job" and "This song is about throwing a brick at a policeman when you're young and wondering if it was a good idea when you're older".
Frank Turners band leave him for a while to play a few acoustic songs, including a new acapella song about the New Forest. After this, he played my favourite song of his "Love Ire & Song" which Frank Turner (on another occasion) said "The title refers to the things I think you need in life to be happy, the perfect ingredients. Why "ire” (instead of, say "anger")? Because I feel like it." The band slowly rejoined him in the process of this song to then play "Fathers Day". Frank Turner then played mainly old songs, but he did have a couple of new ones off his new EP "Rock and Roll", including an "ode to drinking" called "The Next Round". He finished the gig with "The Road".
Frank Turner came back on a few minutes later to play "The Ballad of Me and My Friends" a song he said he wrote "when no one gave a shit". Although unprompted, the whole audience joined in with the lyrics "We're defiantely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell" which to me kind of showed how big he's become in the last 5 years since he started playing solo. 4,000 people singing the words to a song he wrote when no one gave a shit, slightly ironic in my opinion, but a good type of irony. Finally, Frank Turner, along with the only member of Dive Dive who isn't in his band and Ed Harcourt played "Photosynthesis". By the end of it, I don't think there was a single person in the audience not singing along to the lyrics "I won't sit down, and I won't shut up, but most of all I will not grow up". And after this, Frank and his band were gone (though we weren't, we were standing around asking the roadies to give us the setlist, which we obtained).
Overall, this was one of the best gigs I've been too. The amazing songs, hearing one of my favourite artists live and feeling like every one in the audience and on stage was having fun, makes for the perfect gig.
All for now,
Emily
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