Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls rolled into Bristol O2 on the penultimate date of this leg of the ‘never-ending tour of everywhere 2022’ tour before a short break....... then he starts again in Germany and Austria at the end of the year. Then its a well earned Christmas rest before starting all over again for another load of dates across the UK in Jan and Feb (tickets on sale now). He certainly is one of the hardest working musicians on the circuit right now and has been making up for the Covid hiatus that must have drove him mad.

Before Frank and the band, we had a full mix of artists to get the audience warmed up. First up was Mash P, an artist Frank has supported since visiting the Wayout Arts charity over in Sierra Leone. Mash is now studying music here in the UK and brought us his unique mix of west African music and dance. The early arrivals were greeted to a great 20 minutes, with the last song accompanied by Truckstop Honeymoon for a really creative mix of styles.

Next up was Truckstop Honeymoon. This husband and wife outfit draw together various styles with their double bass / guitar combo (with some 5 string banjo thrown in for good measure) and have travelled all over the world with their 4 kids telling stories about their lives. The music was fantastic, foot stomping stuff and their chat was first class. They even brought their son up on stage to drum on the last couple of tracks. Their stories were heart warming and even making a song work, based on the dodgy area in Manchester Mike used to live in.

Pet Needs completed the support line and what a few months it has been for these guys from Colchester. They supported Frank across the US, in Europe and now on this leg of the UK tour, they released their second album and gave up their day jobs to give this rock and roll thing a shot. And what a band they are. Its been 18 months since I first saw them live and they have got more confident, sharper and definitely more energetic. But one thing hasn’t changed, it still looks like they are having the time of their lives. The songs are fast and furious, and brothers George and Johnny are balls of energy as they bounce around the stage. Johnny was off the stage and in the crowd by song 3 (I think it was song 2 at the Louisiana last time, so he was slacking !) and the crowd loved it. Lost Again kicked things off followed quickly by Tracey Emin’s Bed (a real favourite of mine) as they ran through a quick fire set of material from both albums. These 4 guys are so tight and the crowd were bouncing from start to finish. A full on set that flew by in a heartbeat with the crowd baying for more.

They are off on their own headline tour in December: 

6 – Birmingham – Dead Wax
7 – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
8 – Bristol – Exchange
9 – London – The Grace
12 – Southampton – The Joiners
13 – Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club
14 – Manchester – Gullivers
15 – Nottingham – The Bodega
16 – Colchester – Arts Centre (SOLD OUT)

 Tickets for the shows are available here.

And then it was time for Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. On the back his latest, number 1, album this is the first full band show in Bristol since April 2018 and he was first to apologise ! He launched into the set at full speed with ‘Four Simple Words’, followed by a track off the new album ‘Haven’t been doing so well’. As with Frank shows, he sets the rules for the show early doors; Rule #1 don’t be a dickh and Rule #2 if you know the words then you have to sing along. As the opening chords of ‘ Photosynthesis’ rang out, rule 2 was being well adhered to by 90% of the crowd.

The new album is a little higher tempo, a little more punk than his more recent stuff and this quickly got the crowd rocking. The circle pit, direct by Frank, started early and the audience didn’t let up from start to finish. The set list covered the whole back catalogue of his material with a focus on the newer material. ‘A wave across the bay’ Frank’s emotional tribute to his close friend, Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchinson, silenced the crowd with it emotional mood. The band then left the stage for a short, 4 song acoustic solo set, that saw Frank bring out ‘Thatcher....’, something that has been missing from his setlist for many years but seems very apt for current times.

This was the first full band tour with Callum Green on drums and as a local boy (well, Swindon) he was welcomed accordingly. As the band re-joined the stage, the crowd we treated to a thrash through some of the quicker, heavier songs from the album (Non Serviam and The Gathering)  as well as Polaroid Picture and Get Better. This has been a long tour and in truth, I think Frank’s voice was struggling at times a little tonight but it didn’t detract from an incredible gig. The whole band give 100% every time they step on stage and the crowd know they are going to get an incredible show.

The four song encore, The ‘Ballad of me and my Friends’, ‘Recovery’, ‘Try this at home’ and ‘I still believe’ left the crowd shattered but happy, with the new album material giving his shows an extra level of pace.

No rest for Frank though, while I am sure the rest of the band went straight to bed after a nice hot chocolate, Frank headed to Bristol’s Thekla for a DJ set. The man is a machine.

Get Tickets for the next UK leg of tour HERE

Words and Pictures Glenn Morrison