There’s this video we recorded last night. The footage is so grainy that all you can see is moving shadows and the occasional disparate flashing light. The sound is so distorted you can barely make out what’s going on and for some reason, no matter which way you turn your phone, the picture is always upside down. So how come we can’t stop watching it?
Because it captures a beautiful moment. Frank Turner stands alone on the stage with the crowd singing in unison and the atmosphere is absolutely electric: it’s powerful, its life affirming. So much so, that a bit of poor video footage does little to detract from the authenticity of it. And that pretty much sums up Frank Turner’s performance at the Exeter Lemon Grove, and indeed all of his recent intimate tour.
As usual, Frank Turner’s stagemanship was on top form, and he perfectly worked up the crowd as both us and him smiled and sweated our way through the near perfect set. From the opening song ‘Try This At Home’, the entire room was bouncing and singing along. They played new, unheard songs, including an emotional acoustic number he wrote for a friend who recently committed suicide, throughout which the entire crowd was captivated. During the newer songs he asked the crowd to not use this as a moment to check their Facebook but instead listen and enjoy; an instruction we’re glad most of the crowd followed. He played old, rare songs, treating the crowd to an acoustic version of ‘Million Dead’s Smiling At Strangers On Trains’. And, of course, he played popular tracks; and the crowd reacted with glee when he played ‘Photosynthesis’, ‘Recovery’ and ‘I Still Believe’ among many others.
The highlight was undoubtedly the final song ‘Four Simple Words’; in the few seconds of silence before the drums kicked in, we heard someone behind us simply mutter “let’s go fucking mental”, and suddenly hell was unleashed. A surge of people from the back of the room caused practically the entire room to turn in to a mosh-pit. 300 people chanted and smashed into each other until the last, whilst Frank Turner thrashed on his guitar and stage dived right into the crowd towards the end of the song.
Words by: Jamie Firby
Photo by: Ellie Mitchell
