Heroes in music are fleeting, and it could be argued that the masses are too be busy looking up to the One Directions of this world and missing the real English talent that’s around.
Heroes in music are fleeting, and it could be argued that the masses are too be busy looking up to the One Directions of this world and missing the real English talent that’s around.
Frank Turner is a man whose songs and lyrics take you on a journey. His songs, like poems, give the listener a story and a premise to follow and enjoy. Turner, armed with his array of acoustic guitars and band The Sleeping Souls, turned The Reading Hexagon into what could only be described as a fully packed local pub.
Opening up his set with I am disappeared, the crowd welcomed the band to a sustained chorus of applause, hanging on his every word from the outset. The large venue instantly transformed into what seemed a very personal evening with the former Eton school boy as crowd favourite Peggy Sang the Blues was belted out.
The Bahrain born Turner has an innate talent that very few possess. It is the unique ability to capture emotions, thoughts, feelings, landscapes and people; and twin all that with beautiful yet simple music. He is a true story teller, a proud Brit that loves his country and enjoys writing about it.
With the diverse crowd constantly bopping along to Turners contagious riffs and smitten with his natural charm he drops in another hit Wessex Boy. The song grips the crowd and the roof is blown off with a wall of slightly inebriated voices and the clap of sweaty hands.
The audience is perhaps one of the most diverse I have seen, children from as young as 10 shouting out song after song to elderly couples won over by Turners old school folksy twang.
Rivers is slotted in nicely half way through the set; with a cameo appearance from the drummer on ‘Rock n Roll recorder’. This is followed by a track dedicated to Kiss guitarist Gene Simmons; when Turner tells the audience that he was inspired by Simmons claim in his autobiography to have slept with over 4,600 women.
Turner, returns to stage for his encore to rapturous applause, starting with Eulogy and moving on swiftly to If I Ever Stray. Turner acknowledges the adoring audience one last time before closing the show with an old classic Photosynthesis, barely needing to add vocals as the crowd belts out every single word.
Turner is a man that deserves the upmost respect, a truly gifted musician that turns poetry into music.
