Frank Turner has cemented himself over the years as a real stalwart of the British music scene. Tonight, he rolled into The Garage in Glasgow with his band The Sleeping Souls to provide a night of entertainment that will live long in the hearts of his raucous fans. Coming off the back of his successful World Record attempt in May, it’s Glasgow’s turn to get a piece of the action.
First up tonight was the excitable Ben Brown, who until tonight was an unknown quantity for myself. Casting a lonely figure on The Garage stage, Ben began to warm the crowd up with his playful acoustic songs. Brown was on quite early in the night so the crowd grew slowly as he played, which increased the atmosphere as the set galloped on. Despite the world's loudest air conditioner, Ben powered on and was a great opener and got everyone loosened up for the excitement that was to follow. As mentioned, this was my first time hearing of Ben Brown and I was thoroughly entertained. Highlight of the set came in the form of his debut single “Blue” which is still stuck in my head now.
The main support tonight came in the form of The Meffs, a two-piece punk band from Essex who have been making waves as of late. Coming fresh off their set at 2000 Trees at the weekend. If the crowd were eased into proceedings with Ben Brown, then they were thrown in the deep end with The Meffs. They don’t mess around in a live environment, giving us bags of energy from the get-go. Opening with No Future, which a lot of the crowd seemed to know, they set a precedent for the rest of the set. I really enjoyed The Meffs, this was my first time seeing them live and they really gave a great first impression. The highlight was definitely their cover of Breathe by The Prodigy, which really caught me off guard and I absolutely loved it. I would definitely like to see The Meffs on a headline show.
As much fun as we all had with the support acts tonight, there is one reason the sold out sign is on the door, and that is Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. There was a great atmosphere in the crowd leading up to the set with a real sense of anticipation. From what I gathered, the crowd was majority made up of his die-hard fans, with many left without a ticket given how quickly this show sold out. It’s not been too long since Turner and co were in Glasgow, having played King Tut’s on a Sleeping Souls run back in January. You wouldn’t think it though as the crowd were chomping at the bit for this show to begin, with a deafening ovation as the band took to the stage.
Opening up the set with the absolute anthem that is “No Thank You For The Music”, the energy in the room was electric. The Garage painted the perfect backdrop for this show with the tight space trapping all that sound and keeping everyone moving. No rest for the wicked as they go straight into the upbeat “Girl From The Record Shop”. One thing I noticed straight away was the sheer volume of the crowd singing along to every work. These fans are as much part of the show as the band themselves which is amazing to see. The set galloped on with song after song of that classic Frank Turner vibe. I spoke about the crowd not giving up with their energy but this was led by Turner who just kept it at 100% the entire night.
As someone who was listening to Frank Turner over 15 years ago, the highlight of the set came in the form of an acoustic rendition of “Love Ire & Song” which transported me right back to the first time I played the album of the same name. I apparently wasn’t the only one, as the entire venue was singing at the top of their lungs the entire way through the song. A couple more acoustic numbers in the middle of the set was a nice change of pace given the mammoth length of this set. One of which included a cover of Frightened Rabbits which was a nice emotional touch. Frank was ultimately on stage for the best part of two hours, giving it everything and the crowd gave it back.
I absolutely loved every minute of this set. Having never seen Turner live before, I didn’t know what to expect, but this was absolutely tremendous. As mentioned at the start of this review, Turner has a reputation as a long standing member of the live music scene in the UK and he absolutely deserves that. One of the best acts in the country. I would definitely recommend getting to a show.
