FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS // ALHAMBRA THEATRE, DUNFERMLINE
FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS BRING THE “NO MAN’S LAND” TOUR TO DUNFERMLINE’S ALHAMBRA THEATRE
FRANK TURNER PERFORMING AT ALHAMBRA THEATRE, DUNFERMLINE - 22.11.2019
PICTURE BY: | CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★★ (5/5)
Originally opened in 1922 and built to be a theatre and a cinema, tonight's venue The Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline is the perfect setting for the evening ahead.
This tour has been billed as a Frank Turner tour with a difference, we will have two sets from the man himself. The first set will be a solo affair (performing songs from “No Man’s Land” and telling the stories behind them) whilst the second will see Frank joined by his band The Sleeping Souls for an unplugged session.
As soon as we enter the venue it is evident that the production will not be a big one, as we are greeted with a simple looking stand behind a solo seat, the stand bearing the words "No Man's Land". But if we're honest, when you see Frank there is absolutely no need for a huge production as he is one of the best entertainers on the go, and is more than capable of carrying himself in any setting.
Frank appears for the first set, consisting of songs from his newly released "No Man's Land" album. Opening with "Jinny Bingham's Ghost", a song about a 17th century coachhouse owner who was accused of being a witch, Frank tells the story via the song as well as giving us a run down of how he came to the decision to choose Jinny as a person to highlight from history.
The sold out Alhambra crowd are fully involved from the off, with the whole room singing along and also hanging on every word when Frank is telling the stories behind each song.
Standouts of the first set come in "Silent Key", about the tragic story of Christa McAuliffe who was on board the Challenger shuttle when it plummeted back down to Earth and "Rosemary Jane", a song which Frank wrote for his Mum which tells the beautiful story of how she went above all to make sure him and his sisters had the upbringing they deserve.
The stage is vacated for a short interval of 25 minutes and then when Frank appears again he is joined by his usual band, The Sleeping Souls, for a stripped back set of material old and new.
Opening with a version of "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends" which is more a piece of spoken word material with a sung chorus, it perfectly sets the scene for the rest of the set.
We get songs old and new, with one brilliant surprise being "Journey Of The Magi", originally released in 2009 and not often played live.
The stripped back setting works well with all songs which are played, helped by the fact that Frank also does a number of solo acoustic shows as part of tours (the man is always on the road!)
Crowd interaction between Frank and the crowd is brilliant, with him telling stories of how a lot of the material played will be songs about unhappy love, but not to worry as there would also be songs about mental health, death and addiction!
Falling right into that first category, "Substitute" has been a mainstay in sets for years and covers the subject wonderfully, with Frank singing "I've had many different girls inside my bed, but only one or two inside my head. These days I cuddle up to my guitar instead".
Other standouts of the set are "Redemption", "The Way I Tend To Be" and "There She Is", the latter actually being a beautiful song about Frank's now wife, which he wrote when she was sleeping next to him in a hotel room, and it details how she is everything he has ever wanted.
A raucous ending trio of "Recovery", "I Still Believe" and "Be More Kind" sees the majority of the ground section of the all seated venue get on their feet and rush to the front of the room, and the scene before us now resembles your typical Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls show.
This tour with a twist is superb, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls shows never disappoint and the fact we get a Frank Turner solo show and a Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls show in one evening make this quite possibly the tour of the year. If it is coming near you, don't miss it!