Frank Turner Live at Whelans September 18th 2011
Review: Vanessa Monaghan
Photos: Yan Bourke
Over the past while I’ve been to some great gigs, I’m due one that will disappoint. So with every show I go to, I’ve been trying not to get my hopes too high for a great night but hoping that a dud isn’t on the cards.
It takes me over an hour to get across the city, it’s All Ireland Sunday and Dublin have won, the atmosphere in the city is electric and this has spilled into Whelans. Ciaran Lenehan is on stage, wearing his Dublin jersey, a combination of the good vibes in the room and his awesome tunes have the audience in the palm of his hand. Floor space is at a premium tonight and even with an up for it crowd, Lenehan does an old trad song a cappella. Apart from Ciaran’s voice all you could hear in the venue is the sound of pints being pulled. Lenehan takes his opportunity to wow the audience and does so in fine fashion. Cementing great vibes in the room, Lenehan gets a fantastic response.
Frank Turner was greeted huge applause and he and his band ‘The Sleeping Souls’ start the set with ‘Eulogy’. From the crowd reaction, the folk punker seems to be something of a cult hero, everyone seems to know every word of every song. Even by the second track ‘I Still Believe’ the Whelans are totally under the Englishman’s spell.
Turner has a lovely way with words and his lyrics pull no punches, he says it like it is. The manic ‘Try This At Home’ is almost too fast for the audience to bop along to but the band finish with a very impressive dead stop. Throughout the show ‘The Sleeping Souls’, who are Turner’s band in studio also, are a cohesive unit and the guitarist in particular lets the punk out.
From my vantage point upstairs in Whelans, the crowd reaction to Turner is quite visible. Dressed in a white shirt and waistcoat and along with his beard and curly mop, he looks quite the folkster but you get the impression with Turner that this is him and his personality onstage and off.
Whether its the more punky or the more folky of Turner’s material, he remains clever with his lyrics and his melodies thrive in a live environment. ‘If Ever I Stray’ is a great example of this, with a shouty drink a long chorus. ‘Sons of Liberty’ has all the hallmarks of a classic English folk song, the interaction between the audience and stage is intense as the refrain drives the audience. Turner has taken a traditional style of folk and made it more relevant than a lot of music that’s currently around.
Turner introduces ‘English Curse’ and sings it solo acappella to a silent attentive audience. Within seconds of Turner saying that he wrote the next song, ‘Reasons To Be An Idiot’, about his friends girlfriend, the entire crowd is giving it socks. Both the crowd and Turner himself are bopping and clapping along. ‘Glory Hallelujah’ starts off with Turner on acoustic, later joined by church organ style keys. This song easily gets the loudest cheer of the night.
Turner says that this is ‘probably my favourite Dublin gig’, asking the audience for a show of hands on who has seen him previously. The hand raising just shows how his popularity has grown over the past while. During ‘The Road’ he cleverly slips ‘Dublin’ into the lyrics, this sends the crowd a little bit wild with the singer ending the song standing singing at the edge of the stage, singing without amplification, being accompanied by the audience. Frank Turner really is unique and he shows this with his choice of cover for the night. I’m not sure many people would have the gumption to go for Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ And it’s a bloody good sing a long.
During an encore Turner thanks everyone for coming along, thanks his band, his tshirt seller and gets everyone to turn around to wave to his engineer. As the band are about to start the last song of the night, the standing audience sit/hunker down on the floor, heralding what can only be ‘Photosynthesis’ and ‘the last chance to count 1, 2, 3, 4. As the sitting audience leap to their feet the last minutes of the show become a celebration of music and life.
Turner has a varied way of writing which means his songs are never boring but always encourage the listener to take part. Totally enjoyable show, great talent, melodies and hooks, fantastic atmosphere. There’s not enough Frank Turner in the world.