Frank Turner

[keeprighton2]

Heard him yet? You should, his star is rising fast. Oft compared to Billy Bragg but a passionate live act and great storyteller and lyricist with some class tunes.

Caught him in Wincester the other night, just down the road from the Railway pub where I saw John and Pat do their Autumn Defense gig a few weeks back.

Here's a review:

 

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As career paths go Frank Turner's has to be one of the most unlikely routes to 'rock' glory, stepping out from the receiving end of Paul Weller's class war manifesto. Remember how the rock icon railed against the public school privileged with the immortal lines, 'All that rugby puts hairs on your chest, what chance have you got against a tie and a crest?', the bloodied lip at the hands of the 'Eton Rifles'.

 

Turner was one of them, a bow-tie wearing Eton scholar for whom The Jam man might have written 'we were no match for their untamed wit' from the same song. Somewhere down the line Turner turned tail on academic expectation and tradition and found the power of punk (via a stint reading history at the London School of Economics). From being frontman of cult hardcore band Million Dead, Turner, at 26, is now two albums and two EP's into a 'folk' career, or perhaps that should be, to borrow the title from his first solo EP, 'Campfire Punkrock'.

 

'We planned a revolution from a cheap Southampton bistro....' sings Frank in one of his standout anthems 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous' (T.S.Eliot must have been on the Eton syllabus), and here we are a few miles up the road in Frank's hometown Winchester. It's the unlikely sound of Middle England.

 

We're squeezed in with a couple of hundred fans and friends at the delightful Tower Arts Theatre, an octagonal shaped performance space converted from an old water tower in the grounds of the town's King's School. The night before he'd played his biggest headline UK show yet in front of a thousand devotees at London's Scala, and this being a hometown gig his mum and sisters are here too. Mrs Turner even gets an apology for all the onstage swearing, the least you'd expect from an expensively educated boy! 'Any of you here at school with him?' asks support act Emily Barker. 'I TOOK him to school!' comes the posh female voice from the back. Nice one, Mrs T! It's that kind of night.

 

Frank makes no bones about his background. 'I was raised in Middle England, not Nashville, Tennessee' he protests in a folk/country jaunt from a song named after the American musical mecca, though his material owes much to its influence. He's a great storyteller through song, a sharp, observational and confessional lyricist who knows his way round an infectious tune, and a passionate performer, whatever the venue. 'Hampshire is where I belong' he muses in the aforementioned folk tale, desperateley proud of those roots, referencing Winchester throughout the night in song and banter. There's even a nod to a local Hampshire village where someone recalls he played to a handful of folk a couple of years before: 'Micheldever - land of the free!'

 

Since then, the Land Of The Free has been but one stop-off on a long, long road of touring. Summer 2008's tour of the USA took him up to an astonishing 500 gigs in the past four years, that's an average of one gig every three nights, with passion and enthusiasm to burn. Clearly he's a man who knows where he's going. As Bruce Springsteen would tell you (hundreds of gigs clocked up as a young, rising songwriter and performer) the road is where you learn your craft and make your name.

 

Little wonder then that Turner's been drawing rave reviews from a growing fanbase. My first experience of him came at Glastonbury last June when I wandered past the Avalon Stage tent at three in the afternoon, only to be drawn inside by the sound of a sizeable crowd bellowing back every word of Turner's folk-pop gems.

 

Tonight you can see why he's such an inclusive performer. 'It's not about us being stars up here and you down there, we're in this together, you're the backing singers!' he says, not that the gathered ensemble need any encouragement. The night's opening song 'The Ballad Of Me and My Friends' has a built-in chant-along right from it's live recorded incarnation two years ago:'.....And We're Def-in-itely Going To Hell!' comes the response from those backing singers right on cue. Likewise the uplifting 'Father's Day' has them piling in again to the tune of one of Turner's best melodies, while 'Love Ire And Song' has middle aged men punching the air with joy and defiance.

 

Support comes from 'my bearded commie friend' Chris T-T who can't resist a playful dig in Turner's direction, 'He's got a Dave Cameron sticker on his tour van!' as they all launch into set closers 'St. Christopher Is Coming Home' and a barnstorming 'Photosynthesis', where with tongue in cheek Turner defies that strict scholarly upbringing with '....I won't sit down, and I won't shut up and most of all I will not grow up!' all fired off with a rare passion and a knowing smile.

 

Life has taught him compassion and humility too. The anthemic 'Long Live The Queen' is a tribute to a friend who died of cancer last year with all proceeds from the single release going to the breast cancer charity.

 

To quote Mr Weller again: 'Hello hooray, cheers then mate, to the Eton Rifles!' Long Live The King.

[TemplePilot]

Thank you for posting this. I think he is phenomenal. He is my most prized "find" in recent years. Both of his albums are wonderful, and so are both EPs. I can't get enough, I was so happy to see him state side earlier this year. Absolutely fantastic. Something for everyone and brilliantly fuses his punk rocking roots with his new folk sound. It's been a while since I've heard a folk singer with such passion. Everyone here should investigate, you are right.

[ih8music]

Frank Turner will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight. http://www.nbc.com/Last_Call_with_Carson_Daly/calendar/

[lizish]

love him.

 

almost got a FTHC tattoo.

[cryptique]

Big fan.

 

This was the one that hooked me:

 

[lizish]

Just listening to the Ballad of Steve.

 

Love it.

 

'....that means that Steve got home, kicked open the door and went 'Daddy's Home and he needs some fucking' and the boyfriend goes 'hell yes he does'

 

 

 

can't think of a more entertaining performer right now.