The evening started with a traditional picnic, yep, my photographer, a good friend and me were sat outside the Great Hall in Exeter chowing down on a selection of savoury nibbles, washed down with a refreshing slightly sparking apple based beverage (not cider...) as the queue grew for tonight’s performance which featured the one and only Frank Turner performing new songs form his forthcoming album Be More Kind as well as a slew of older treasures for his army of die hard fans who had travelled as far as the deepest, darkest depths of Cornwall to catch their idol in action.

Upon entering the Great Hall in Exeter which is the main entertainment space housed within the grounds of the famous University, I wasn't surprised to see a myriad of people ranging from young teens to more, ahem, 'experienced' gig goers (myself included) wandering about, buying merchandise and looking physically excited in anticipation of what lay ahead of them. To be a fan of Frank Turner means that you are a member of a massive group where EVERYONE is welcome, gay, straight, black, white, able bodied, not so able bodied, you name it, Frank wraps his big arms around you all and welcomes each and every one of them into the family, HIS family, it's no surprise that he's so damned popular!

Opening the show was Derek Zanetti aka The Homeless Gospel Choir, his set was laced with protest songs from start to finish (he is a protest singer after all). He won the hearts of the audience with his amusing and topical material and somewhat awkward vulnerability and pleaded with everyone to share his views of a better planet with racism and homophobia banished to something we could all look back on in history, one day….. 

We caught up with Derek after the show at the merch table where he was doing a roaring trade in rainbow colour bum bags (fanny packs if you’re across the pond!) and bumper stickers that he was urging people to attach to their neighbours cars without them knowing! We had a good chat about his home city of Pittsburgh and learnt that this was the home of the Big Mac, the first professional wrestler and some other nuggets of information that I have completely forgotten! I urge you to check him and his music out at his website

For the last song of his set, the 2nd support act Arkells joined Derek on stage and, once finished, launched straight into their high-octane set which consisted of some crowd pleasing numbers which saw the audience lifted to a higher level (Frank certainly knows how to pick his support acts). Hailing from Hamilton Ontario, these guys have toured previously in the US with Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls and when Frank invited them to accompany him and his band on the UK/Ireland leg of the Be More Kind world tour, they didn’t hesitate in getting back to him with 5 yes’s!

They share the same musical background as Frank and if you check YouTube, you’ll see just how much fun they had in the States a couple of years ago playing a game where they would provide the music and Frank would have to sing the words to a selection of Bruce Springsteen tracks. I chatted to the singer Max Kerman in the afternoon leading up to the show (whilst I was sat in a trampoline centre in Plymouth, slowly losing the will to live), the full interview will be online as soon as possible but as a sneak preview, I’ll let you know that we chatted about their forthcoming album which is due later this year and a very amusing story about what happened to them on stage in Sheffield…..

After a short break and a tidy up of the stage, it was time for Frank and his Sleeping Souls to take to the stage and do what they do best. Opening with ‘1933’, from his forthcoming record Be More Kind, it was the start of an evening, which for many, would cement the fact that Frank is one of, if not THE best live performer out there at this moment in time. Dressed in their trademark black slacks and white shirts they tore through their set at a blistering pace, pausing between songs to talk about organisations that are close to Frank’s heart including one called 'Stay Up Late' which gives people who don’t learn the same as everyone else the chance to attend rock n’ roll shows!

The new material went down well but it was when he rolled out the big guns such as “Get Better”, “Recovery”, “The Road” and “The Way I Tend to Be” which raised the roof and saw the audience with hands aloft, singing their hearts out!

Midway through the set, Frank told Exeter that Aberdeen and Sheffield currently held the crown for being the loudest audience and that if they wanted to win the title, they’d have to start singing a lot louder than they had been, this seemed to knock the whole room into overdrive, a circle pit formed and before long, people were running around it like crazed animals, it looked great fun but for this, I was more than happy to observe from my elevated spot on the balcony!

The band left the stage, leaving Frank with just his acoustic guitar to perform 3 songs “Get it Right”, “Song for Josh” and “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” which were awesome. You forget just how competent Frank is as a solo performer, he managed to keep the entire room engaged, stirring their emotions until The Sleeping Souls joined him once again. The lights dimmed as they launched into new track “Blackout”, ending the set with “Photosynthesis”, exiting the stage to the loudest cheer of the evening yet.

It wasn’t long before the deafening roar dragged them out of their dressing rooms for the final soiree of the evening and what a belter it was, “I Still Believe” had everyone singing along, “Four Simple Words” saw Frank launch himself into the crowd only to be carried from the front of the room to the back and even found time to make a young ladies night by having a dance with her before being carried off again for another crowd surfing ride back to the stage. They closed the set with the awesome “Polaroid Picture” which was a perfect way to end an incredible evening.

We were fortunate enough to be invited back to chat to Frank after the show, he was physically drained (not surprising after that performance!) but pleased to see us. I was surprised to hear that they had a day off planned for the Sunday after the show before the Cambridge show on Monday. I asked Frank what his plans were for the Sunday and he explained that he was going to support his partner who was putting on a play at a local theatre in Winchester, I commented on how nice it was that he found time to support her during the downtime of the tour and he said that she was going to be attending the Cambridge show with her Mum and Dad on Monday. I asked if he’d be keeping the bad language to a minimum but he said that despite knowing that he shouldn’t swear on stage, he just can’t help it - let’s hope his future in-law’s aren’t easily offended!

Be More Kind is available from May 4th (International Star Wars Day) and is available to pre-order HERE

Words by Steve Muscutt

Pictures by © Julian Baird