FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
BRINGING TOGETHER A SET OF OLD AND NEW TRACKS, FRANK TURNER DELIVERS A SHOW OF MONUMENTAL FUN.
FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS
PICTURE BY: ANDREW BENGE/REDFERNS - GETTY IMAGES
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)
Taking to the stage alt. rock legends Jimmy Eat World bring their powerful set into the already packed out venue. Picking material from the twenty years they’ve been together, the band manage to spark the crowd into singing and dancing. With songs like Sure and Certain and Futures, the crunchy guitars are centerstage as frontman Jim Atkins unleashes his voice to full capacity. Ending on a three song run of Bleed American, Sweetness and The Middle the crowd truly clicks with the band. As these are the bands biggest songs, it is no wonder that it kicks off at this point. What I did notice is the fact that it was quite a wide demographic of people that were there to see Jimmy Eat World, as well as Frank Turner. Old and young people both singing along to The Middle is quite the humbling sight.
Launching into the raucous Out of Breath, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls got off on a good foot. The unfiltered energy Turner and his band brought was electric, switching into the fan favourite Photosynthesis prompted a venue-wide sing-a-long. It can be a daunting task to take to these big stages in front of sold-out audiences and deliver, but Turner is so well versed in this it is almost flawless delivery.
Mixing in material from his latest release ‘Be More Kind’, as well as older material, it is well received by the crowd. Blackout is a particular stand out from the album translating perfectly into the live setting. With the departure to a more polished sound on ‘Be More Kind’, the older tracks Turner plays do sound quite different. Little Changes in particular can be quite jarring to hear for those old school fans with its blatantly pop orientation. However, when it comes down to it Turner is an excellent songwriter at the core. Taking a short solo set in the middle of the gig, his songwriting skills are front and centre with Undeveloped Film, weaving a lament over picked chords. With his next move, Turner took a moment to reflect on the loss of his friend Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. Speaking of his heartbreak over the death of Hutchison, the singer urged the crowd to reach out to friends and family if they feel like they’re not doing okay. This emotional speech lead into an even more emotional cover of The Modern Leper, which left me with goosebumps. Seeing people sing along to this was enough to break anyone's heart.
As The Sleeping Souls came back on the band went on a home run of classics, complete with pyro! Evoking the entire venue to sing the words back at them with songs like I Knew Purfrock Before He Was Famous and I Still Believe, the gig reached a peak with the closer Four Simple Words. Stepping into the crowd to dance with a lucky fan Turner and his band rounded of the night with a frenzy of noise.
SETLIST: | FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS : O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW - 29.01.2019
Out of Breath
Photosynthesis
1933
Recovery
If Ever I Stray
Blackout
Polaroid Picture
Brave Face
Mittens
Little Changes
The Road
I Am Disappeared
Don’t Worry
FRANK TURNER - (SOLO ACOUSTIC)
Undeveloped Film
The Modern Leper - (Frightened Rabbit cover)
The Ballad of Me and My Friends
I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
The Next Storm
Try This at Home
I Still Believe
ENCORE:
Be More Kind
The Way I Tend to Be
Get Better
Four Simple Words