What a fantastic concert at Manchester Academy. Frank Turner was undeniably back!
The socially minded folk-punk troubadour, fresh from playing festivals over the summer such as Glastonbury and Leeds gave a highly energetic and rousing performance on an autumnal night at Manchester Academy. He performed some of his old classics in addition to, showcasing his new album, FTHC (Frank Turner Hardcore), which was released in February 2022.
The venue in the heart of University of Manchester’s city campus, right next to the student union was unsurprisingly packed out with an all standing crowd of 20 – 70 year olds who all knew and belted out the lyrics to Turner’s songs.
The reverberating tone was set with the heady, upbeat bass sounds of Get Ready with Four Simple Words. From start to finish this concert was a surprising delight. Despite an eclectic musical taste, I am ashamed to say that I had never heard of Frank Turner or his music. That said, he does have a niche genre despite a wide following of loyal fans.
Having chatted to different members of the crowd whilst waiting for Turner’s roadies to set up, it became abundantly apparent that Turner is one of life’s good guys. He decided that loyalty and integrity is worth more than personal and astronomical financial gain, that the music industry can bring. Turner was signed to Extra Mile Records and despite serious offers to move labels he remained loyal to the label who catapulted him to fame and took a chance on him. It was so refreshing to hear the love and respect from some of his hardcore fans, that this artist though the years has stayed true to his beliefs whilst letting this small label also reap ongoing rewards and recognition. Fantastic, well done that man!
Other fans showed my brother and I texts and messages they had received from Turner. Despite his heavy performance schedule he ‘practises what he preaches’ by checking up on the welfare of his fans and trying to respond, where possible, to each and every personal message or Twitter he receives. He also came into the auditorium to chat and party with the crowd. He definitely had stage presence, yet, there was no ‘airs and graces’ about this man at the end of his show.
It was highly refreshing that despite Turner’s considerable following he remains humble and genuine. Caring about his ‘fellow passengers to the grave’ After three songs into his performance, he stopped to ask everyone to look at and check the people around them, if they had fallen, stumbled or drank too much, simply to just check on their welfare. He gave many requests similar to this throughout his performance which constantly underpinned his seventh album Be More Kind. It would have been so easy for him to: spout insincere cliches however he never gave self-indulgent monologues; became self absorbed in his own ego or acted ‘holier than thou’ and self righteous. No…you could just tell this was coming from a man, who has experienced tragedies; got his act together and just wants people to be more thoughtful, patient and kind towards each other. The crowd continued to cheer him on and never once did I feel this was part of his performance rather, this was a man with true integrity!
The folk-punk songs came thick and fast. Yes, there was a political slant, yes there was a theme of acceptance and tolerance of others however this was niche folk-punk at its best.
Additionally, Frank Turner brought humour into his songs, telling the story of his relationship with his dad whilst touching the hearts of the audience with tales of his friend Scott who he misses terribly following Scott’s suicide.
I will definately be flicking on Alexa and listening to his music and without a doubt, I will be going to another of his concerts, this time knowing the lyrics to all of his songs.
Set List:
Four Simple Words, Haven’t Been Doing So Well, Photosynthesis, Punches, 1933, Plain Sailing Weather, The Work, I Am Disappeared, Out Of Breath, Miranda, If Ever I Stray, The Next Storm, Wave Across A Bay, There Is She, Thatcher, Be More Kind, The Way I Tend To Be, Non Serviam, The Gathering, Polaroid Picture, Get Better.
Ecore:
The Ballad, Recovery, Try This At Home, Still Believe.
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