Frank Turner’s flair for creating wholehearted, candid and confessional songs has been the backbone of this unmistakable musician’s artistry since his solo career kicked off. Over the decades, Turner has become exactly this transitioning from his always solid punk and hardcore roots into an established and fully renowned singer-songwriter with an ear for crafting infectious sing your heart out style anthems and tunes, alongside being one of live music’s most passionate ambassadors. And this is the life blood for the singer himself.
Always hailing and rallying around the smallest Grassroots Venues that have supported his career since the start, tonight felt like a warm open arms homecoming for Turner, performing at Kingston’s PRYZM for one of the best record stores around Banquet Records. Putting on a show stopping set packed to the brim of Turner classic tracks and some new ones thrown in for good measure, taken from his now number one, ninth studio album FTHC, Frank Turner live shows need no words or explanation, but here are a few anyway.
Walking onto PRYZM’s larger stage since the last time the singer-songwriter set foot on it to a raptors round of applause for the much loved man himself, Frank Turner proceeds with the new stuff first opening the evening with Punches, before delving in deep with his emotions on Haven’t Been Doing So Well, personally honest Miranda and heart-wrenching A Wave Across The Bay. They are shortly followed by the hardcore-punk infused and high octane The Gathering; the gathering in front of Frank down at PRYZM getting their energy levels into gear for the most hardcore leaning song from FTHC.
No Frank Turner show would be complete without Frank’s long-standing favourites. Take the stunning sing-along worthy Recovery or the glorious Get Better and set closer I Still Believe and you will find everything from the old to the new which catered for any Frank fan found throughout the crowd down in Kingston.
Captivating, warm and completely joyous, at his one in many thousands of live shows Frank keeps a close record on, this was just another point to prove Turner’s status as one of the best singer-songwriter, musicians and live showmen music has to ever offer.
9/10
Written By: Katie Conway-Flood
