Frank wins over Wembley
Watch out creationists, if anything proves the theory of evolution it’s Frank Turner. From a punk frontman playing in a mate’s flat to an acoustic troubadour in Wembley Arena, Frank has been through a massive transition in his career.
The night starts out with Beans On Toast, who has a voice that resembles an east end pub ashtray, which fits well with his humorous acoustic ditties. He plays his most well-known song ‘MDMAzing’ at the end of the set, along with a new anti-drug song for the “children of Bedford”, who have in the past misunderstood the intentions of the song. He exits the stage as the politest musician ever to grace the arena, asking the crowd’s permission to crowd surf. They oblige and carry him all the way back to the bar for a well-deserved pint.
Dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip are a strange but smart support act choice, as they break up what could have been just a huge collective of guitar acts. Carrying a battered open book round on stage, Scroobius wanders about spitting his teachings through songs like ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and ‘Letter From God To Man’. He makes the crowd his willing disciples with his wise words, unlike the next support act.
Billy Bragg, for years, has moaned about capitalism and the Tories and blah blah blah. It’s pointless that he’s still chirping on about all of this through embarrassingly blatant political digs, he really doesn’t understand the meaning of subtlety. ‘New England’ obviously goes down a storm, but the rest of his songs just go down awkwardly in this huge arena with just him and a guitar. Billy, we’ll chip in for your taxi fare back to the occupy camp, but don’t expect us to pay for your time machine back to Russia circa 1917.
Frank arrives on the stage with a smile so wide you’d think it was Christmas. He’s obviously been waiting for this for a long time and he doesn’t mess around by crying and accepting flowers, bringing the sing along favorites to the table early with ‘Reasons Not To Be An Idiot’.
He combines the old fan favorites with newbies like ‘I Still Believe’ and even newer unheard song ‘Four Simple Words’, which starts off in a typical Frank fashion with witty lyrics and a few simple acoustic chords, but it then takes a complete U-turn and barges into a chaotic chorus of shouts with “I want to dance,” harking back to his punk roots.
The surprises don’t stop there, the man of the night and his backing band the Sleeping Souls also manage to fit in a perfect rendition of Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’, which sees Frank ditching the guitar and becoming a flamboyant frontman (minus the moustache and tight vest) by roaming the stage fist pumping, hitting the high notes like there was an elastic band gripping something tight down south.
Exiting for a quick commemorative tattoo backstage, he returns to play a shambolic rendition of ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’’ with Billy Bragg. For last song, ‘Photosynthesis’, the entirety of Wembley sit on the floor like some sort of drunk nursery class clinging on to some fantastic story told by their teacher, only rising at the last moment when an obscene amount of confetti is released from above, showering the sweaty audience in gold.
Tonight is all the more special because it’s well-deserved. Turner is constantly touring and has even won an AIM Award for “hardest-working artist.” It’s great that this gig will be released as a DVD, but it really isn’t necessary for everyone there. The memory of this night will not be forgotten so easily. Well done, Frank.
Words by Jamie Carson
The night starts out with Beans On Toast, who has a voice that resembles an east end pub ashtray, which fits well with his humorous acoustic ditties. He plays his most well-known song ‘MDMAzing’ at the end of the set, along with a new anti-drug song for the “children of Bedford”, who have in the past misunderstood the intentions of the song. He exits the stage as the politest musician ever to grace the arena, asking the crowd’s permission to crowd surf. They oblige and carry him all the way back to the bar for a well-deserved pint.
Dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip are a strange but smart support act choice, as they break up what could have been just a huge collective of guitar acts. Carrying a battered open book round on stage, Scroobius wanders about spitting his teachings through songs like ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and ‘Letter From God To Man’. He makes the crowd his willing disciples with his wise words, unlike the next support act.
Billy Bragg, for years, has moaned about capitalism and the Tories and blah blah blah. It’s pointless that he’s still chirping on about all of this through embarrassingly blatant political digs, he really doesn’t understand the meaning of subtlety. ‘New England’ obviously goes down a storm, but the rest of his songs just go down awkwardly in this huge arena with just him and a guitar. Billy, we’ll chip in for your taxi fare back to the occupy camp, but don’t expect us to pay for your time machine back to Russia circa 1917.
Frank arrives on the stage with a smile so wide you’d think it was Christmas. He’s obviously been waiting for this for a long time and he doesn’t mess around by crying and accepting flowers, bringing the sing along favorites to the table early with ‘Reasons Not To Be An Idiot’.
He combines the old fan favorites with newbies like ‘I Still Believe’ and even newer unheard song ‘Four Simple Words’, which starts off in a typical Frank fashion with witty lyrics and a few simple acoustic chords, but it then takes a complete U-turn and barges into a chaotic chorus of shouts with “I want to dance,” harking back to his punk roots.
The surprises don’t stop there, the man of the night and his backing band the Sleeping Souls also manage to fit in a perfect rendition of Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’, which sees Frank ditching the guitar and becoming a flamboyant frontman (minus the moustache and tight vest) by roaming the stage fist pumping, hitting the high notes like there was an elastic band gripping something tight down south.
Exiting for a quick commemorative tattoo backstage, he returns to play a shambolic rendition of ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’’ with Billy Bragg. For last song, ‘Photosynthesis’, the entirety of Wembley sit on the floor like some sort of drunk nursery class clinging on to some fantastic story told by their teacher, only rising at the last moment when an obscene amount of confetti is released from above, showering the sweaty audience in gold.
Tonight is all the more special because it’s well-deserved. Turner is constantly touring and has even won an AIM Award for “hardest-working artist.” It’s great that this gig will be released as a DVD, but it really isn’t necessary for everyone there. The memory of this night will not be forgotten so easily. Well done, Frank.
Words by Jamie Carson
Frank Turner
