Tuesday 08/04/08 Frank Turner @ The Zodiac, Oxford

Frank Turner’s a bit of a God round these parts. Most people are indifferent to acoustic singer songwriters these days. It’s not like the market isn’t saturated with a million James Blunts telling girls how ‘beeeeeautiful’ they are. Thankfully then, ex Million Dead, sometime underground superstar, Frank Turner is here to tease our temperate eardrums with his melodic folk/country tinged guitar music. Yes!

Frank’s the real deal. He’s a genuinely nice, friendly man with a rather brilliant stage presence. And he means every word. Every. Single. Word. Everyone who has come to this sold out gig tonight knows this.

He plays some older, much loved, songs from his first album, songs like ‘Must Try Harder’, ‘Back in the Day’ and ‘Nashville Tennessee’ have the crowd singing along nicely, like we’re all camped around some big camp fire, and this is one big love fest (in a nice way). He plays some stuff from the new album; ‘Photosynthesis’ is met with lots of dancing; he tells the crowd, if they’ve wanted an excuse to pull tonight, they now have it. ‘Love Ire and Song’ follows shortly behind. Judging by most of the crowd’s reactions tonight, we’re dealing with some old school, seasoned Frank Turner fans. They know all the words, and they sing along happily. Everyone seems happy and ‘part of it’; whatever ‘it’ is.

Frank’s got a new album out to promote, so he thanks his label for giving him the opportunity to do what he loves for a living. He asks the crowd how many of them have got the album, many hands shoot up. He asks how many paid for it. Most of the hands stay up. He’s amused. He plays my personal favourite ‘Long Live the Queen’ about a friend who died. The melody is so uplifting and so fun, it somehow makes the lyrics “you’ll  live to dance another day… just now you’ll have to dance for the two of us” that much sadder.

Frank’s accompaniment leaves for the night, to kisses no less, and he stands alone for the acoustic section of this evening’s entertainment. ‘Worse Things Happen At Sea’- an affecting song about a relationship break up, incorporating the heartfelt words “It’s obvious, the way you move, the way you hold your head, The way you hide your pretty eyes and shift across the bed.” His lyrics are so honest yet so cutting. His last song of the night ‘The Ballad of Me and My Friends’ sees Frank standing alone, singing his heart out, and his followers stand below singing their hearts out equally. “None of  us is going anywhere, pretty soon we’ll all be old, and no one left alive will really care, about our glory days, when we sold our souls”. Frank is the voice of a generation feeling dissatisfied with their lot, but tonight, we’re all joined together in unity.

Occasionally, you come across an artist who is just so amazing and sincere that you feel the liquid inadvertently seep from your sleepy eyes. His music is so affecting, so genuine; his lyrics so heartfelt; his melodies are mesmerising. You could be in a room full of people, much like this one, and you’ll feel your eyes glaze over, something has changed, a sudden snap of revelation. You love this beautiful music pouring into your cynical ears. Thank you for this beautiful evening, Mr Turner; it is appreciated.