After nearly 12 months of NO GIGS whatsoever, I was looking forward to an event that had been advertised for some time now. The wonderful folk at Xtra Mile Recordings had arranged a one day event called The Gathering, headlined by the legend that is Frank Turner and other acts from the Xtra Mile stable, excited? you betcha bottom dollar I was!

After Master Johnson (Boris) announced that the lockdown would be extended by a further 4 weeks, I started to panic, luckily, this didn’t include socially distanced shows that were to take place outdoors. As the date got closer, I started to plan my day, interviews, photoshoots, socialising, it was all there for the taking and now, things were getting real!

After picking up my able assistant for the day, we headed up to Bideford to a venue called The Big Sheep, an animal themed activity centre, aimed at little people but today, the park was closed as The Gathering had taken precedence over goat petting and lamb feeding. Upon arrival at 3pm, we had found out that the nice people who run the park had opened up the roller coaster, not any roller coaster, this just happens to be THE BIGGEST (or was it the TALLEST?) roller coaster in Devon and as we started to meet the bands who were performing, they ALL asked us if we had managed to get a ride on it, we hadn’t, but not being a fan of roller coasters, I wasn’t really that bothered.

We found out that the event was made up of 5 acts that would be performing in the following order;

Guise (Jess)
Pet Needs
Samantics
Skinny Lister (trio)
Frank Turner (duo)

As the fans started to arrive, they were accompanied to their ‘circles’ - in a nutshell, groups of up to 6 people booked ‘circles’ where they could setup their camping chairs, lay out their picnics and generally enjoy the day without any risk of coming into close contact with anyone else outside of their ‘circle’, this was an idea that worked very well indeed. As they came thick and fast, Tre (Frank’s tour manager) ushered us to Frank’s tour bus where we setup some chairs out of sight from the queuing masses where we could chat to Frank about all and sundry. We kicked things off by covering some fascinating facts about Bideford, his very successful live stream sessions that eh ran from home which raised over £250,000 for grass roots venues up and down the country and of course, his new album which is due to land very soon. Once we had finished, we took our places ready for the entertainment to begin.

First onstage was Jess (GUISE) who played a tremendous solo set to get the audience warmed up very nicely indeed. Although I have seen Jess perform on some of Frank’s live stream events, seeing her in the flesh and hearing her beautiful voice accompanied by her guitar playing was great.

Next up was Colchester’s finest, PET NEEDS who dazzled the audience with an energetic set which really showcased their ability to hold your attention throughout their performance. Their front man Johnny was throwing some interesting shapes on stage whilst the band held it together, producing some incredible music despite moving away from their usual electric sound and using acoustic instruments instead, even the drummer was playing a cajon which did nothing to take away the energy that these four lads threw at the audience. Stand out tracks for me included ‘Tracey Emin’s Bed’ and their latest offering ‘Overcompensating’ which went down really well. They were rewarded by a large queue at the merch table after their set and hopefully garnered a bunch of new fans in the process. They released their debut album earlier this year, it’s called ‘Fractured Party Music’ and if you’ve not had the pleasure yet, I urge you to check it out, Once checked out, head to their website www.petneedsband.com/store where you can lay your hands on a limited edition blue vinyl LP or a standard CD.

Up next was Exeter based one and band SAMANTICS, when I say ‘one man band’, don’t be fooled into thinking about a washed up has-been with a pair of cymbals between his knees and a bass drum on his back, Sam is FAR more discerning than this! Armed with a loop pedal, various instruments and a head full of ideas, Sam draws upon his rhyming skills and musical prowess to create amazing beats and loops that keep you entertained from the get go. Midway through his set, he announced that he had setup a track completely incorrectly and if you did enjoy the track, don’t bother buying his album as you won’t find that version of the track on it! This did nothing to dissuade people from meeting him after his set at the merch table where he was busy selling CD’s and even some clothing! We chatted to Sam after his set and he is in the process of creating a new album (he referred to this as album 3.5) as well as something on the Xtra Mile label, so keep an eye on his socials for more information as he makes it available.

It was great to see SKINNY LISTER on the bill and as they took to the stage as a trio (Skinny Lister Lite or Skinnier Lister), the whole place erupted as they kicked into their trademark sound which is basically a mix of folk punk rock infused with sea shanties that just have a knack of getting you on your feet, swilling ale and just forget about any cares in your world whilst they are onstage doing what they do! ’Trouble on Oxford Street’ rang out across the auditorium, bringing a massive cheer from the fans who all happily sang along when instructed to as Lorna sang, danced and cajoled the crowd into letting their hair down regardless of its length and partying like it was 1999. I chatted to the trio ahead of their set and they admitted to being a little rusty as they hadn’t actually played together since late in 2019, from what I witnessed, they had nothing to worry about at all, I guess it’s a bit like riding a bike, once you know, you know. It would have been nice if the flagon made an appearance but with current restrictions, you could appreciate why it didn’t, I hope it won’t be long until they fill it up once again and pass it around the audience for people to swig during a future set in a field sometime soon!

After an unsuccessful trip to the pizza van (they had sold out of dough!), I settled for a choc chip shortbread biscuit courtesy of J Sainsbury (other supermarkets are available). We then settled down for the main event of the evening, a duo with the one and only Frank Turner and Matt Nasir of The Sleeping Souls.

As Frank and Matt took to the stage, we didn’t know what to expect but as the set wore on, it was obvious that they were playing a Greatest Hits show with ALL of the classics in there to enjoy, ‘Polaroid Picture’, ‘The Way I Tend To Be’ and ‘1933’ had you dancing along like loons whilst ’Be More Kind’ allowed a moment to reflect on the lyrics and consider how you can act differently to others around you. The banter between Frank and Matt throughout their set was almost on par with a slapstick comedy duo, at one point, Matt had joined Frank on stage after a ‘union break’ but had failed to remember to bring Frank a shot of tequila and a beer with him. Later in the set, Matt had tried to access the stage again but was locked out and had to signal to the sound engineer for him to jump up and unlock the door so he could join Frank once again. Frank spoke about his new album which is still in the making and asked the audience if they would like to hear a BRAND NEW track that he had never played live before, I mean COME ON, who’s not going to be up for that? They played a track called ‘Muhammed Ali’ which I thought sounded very familiar, but was a new track so there was no chance at all that I had heard it before.

The hits came thick and fast, ‘The Next Storm’ sounded sublime, as did ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘If Ever I Stray’ suitably whetted the appetites of the refreshed masses and to see beer flying in the air as the track kicked up to full speed was an immense feeling!

I was packing up my camera gear when I’m sure I heard them launch into a Queen cover, I forget which track it was but it went down really well and had everyone singing along.

As the light began to fade, we were treated to a bit of rain, this did nothing to dampen the spirits of the fans who were actually happy for a spot of the wet stuff to cool them down after a blistering set from Frank and Matt.

As the notes of the last song rang out across the auditorium, I looked around to see arms in the air, smiles on faces and a LOT of happy people, this my friends is what live music is all about, okay, there was no crowd surfing but this will come in time…..Soon, we will be back to enjoying live music in local grassroots venues that have struggled to stay afloat but with YOUR donations to live streams that Frank (and many others) have been putting on since March 2020, the majority have managed to stay open and are looking forward to welcoming you back through their doors VERY soon for a pint and a chance to catch a band or two (or five!)

Stay positive folks, hang in there and it won’t be long until we return to something that resembles ’normal’ once again.

Until then, a massive thanks to the bands that performed at the event and a HUGE thank you to Charlie from Xtra Mile who put the event together for you all to enjoy in the first place, my hat goes off to him!

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt