Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls (New Slang @ Hippodrome, 16.11.17)
Another day, another Frank Turner show.
The last time I saw Turner he was trying to gee up an O2 Arena crowd ahead of a Blink 182 headline set. Here he dials it down a couple of notches and what we have is a more mellow set, opening with new track "There She Is", a ballad reminiscent of "Tunnel of Love" era Bruce Springsteen. It's a subdued start to the gig, which is only remedied with the jaunty "Recovery" and the heavier live version of "Long Live The Queen", bringing the crowd at the Hippodrome to life.
"Songbook" features reimagined tracks from Turner's back catalogue and we're treated to a couple of them here. "Polaroid Picture" and "Glorious You" work so well in their slower incarnations that it's difficult to go back and listen to the original recordings. Turner's next record of original material is due out next year and it promises to have a more political emphasis, as evidenced through the largely self-explanatory "Be More Kind". As you'd expect, the last half dozen tracks of the set run through his hits, from the lovely mandolin infused "The Way I Tend To Me" to the life affirming "The Next Storm" and "Four Simple Words", whose "I want to dance" refrain remains brazenly cheesy.
It was mostly a different kind of show then I'm used to from Turner and his band, but it was a refreshing change of pace.
The last time I saw Turner he was trying to gee up an O2 Arena crowd ahead of a Blink 182 headline set. Here he dials it down a couple of notches and what we have is a more mellow set, opening with new track "There She Is", a ballad reminiscent of "Tunnel of Love" era Bruce Springsteen. It's a subdued start to the gig, which is only remedied with the jaunty "Recovery" and the heavier live version of "Long Live The Queen", bringing the crowd at the Hippodrome to life.
"Songbook" features reimagined tracks from Turner's back catalogue and we're treated to a couple of them here. "Polaroid Picture" and "Glorious You" work so well in their slower incarnations that it's difficult to go back and listen to the original recordings. Turner's next record of original material is due out next year and it promises to have a more political emphasis, as evidenced through the largely self-explanatory "Be More Kind". As you'd expect, the last half dozen tracks of the set run through his hits, from the lovely mandolin infused "The Way I Tend To Me" to the life affirming "The Next Storm" and "Four Simple Words", whose "I want to dance" refrain remains brazenly cheesy.
It was mostly a different kind of show then I'm used to from Turner and his band, but it was a refreshing change of pace.
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