​Frank Turner celebrates 20 years of 'Campfire PunkRock'

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Debut EP celebration to greatest hits set. 

Frank Turner **** Recently, lots of acts have been doing tours celebrating anniversary milestones for their previous releases, reminding us all just how old we are all getting. Tonight it was Frank Turner’s turn, and we exclaim that it really was twenty years ago he went solo with the ‘Campfire PunkRock' EP being released. In that time, Frank has played festivals and venues of all sizes, with tonight’s trip to Bristol being his 3138th gig.

He’s also played with bands of many sizes, with the full Sleeping Souls line up, as a duo or as solo act as per tonight’s show. They all offer something different, but there is something intimate about a fully solo show. I personally think it’s where he shines the most as the raw emotions of some of the songs are laid bare when it’s just him and a guitar.

‘The Ballad of me and my Friends’ opens proceedings tonight, followed early in the setlist with a fan favourite of ‘Recovery’ which seems to get things going fully. For those unfamiliar with his work, he is not afraid to lay bare aspects of his life, including his relationship with his estranged, Transgender father with the songs ‘Miranda’. He almost uses songs as a form of self therapy, while bravely opening a window to his private world to the masses.

Sometimes the problems with these anniversary shows is they highlight the artist's first album, and they play all sixteen songs, some of which haven't been played for a while with good reason. But tonight it is just a five-track EP to celebrate, all of which was pretty strong. Of course he had already had a career and written songs for Million Dead before this; tonight, we go to hear a bit of that too with ‘Smiling at strangers on Trains’ as Julia was in the audience.

We now get the first of the songs from ’Campfire Punkrock’ with ‘Casanova Lament’ an almost anti love song. This is followed by the second from the EP and one the crowd like joining the chorus with ‘Thatcher F**ked the Kids’, I think that one pretty much speaks for itself, which is a message that still resonates today. The tone is bought back with a heartfelt plea by Frank for the world to calm down a bit (with a different world leader in particular in mind) to ‘Be more Kind’.

On a night that’s ostensibly about looking back at the past, we get a glimpse of the future with ‘You can believe in Me’ a new song. I’m never sure it’s fair to give too much away when songs are in the early days, but it is an uplifting number about supporting loved ones. This leads into another fan favourite and mass sing-along with ‘If ever I Stray’ from ‘England keep my Bones’ in fact for a concert celebrating his first EP, it has been more a greatest hits, a celebration of a wonderful career to date.

Final track from ‘Campfire Punkrock is ‘I Really don't care what you did on your gap Year’, another Frank explains was from when he was struggling with drug addiction. We have a bit of a greatest hits end to the set with ‘Photosynthesis’ followed by ‘Get Better’ ending the set. Well sort of, he doesn’t do encores anymore (at least the walking off and back on bit), so instead stays and launches into a couple more songs. ‘I Still Believe’ being the first, another that every person In the crowd, knows every word to, as they have for about 99% of the set.

The song states “something as simple as Rock and Roll will save us all’ which I think is the perfect attitude. For someone like Frank who is very open with his past issues, he seems very grounded and happy with who is now, shaped by and learned from past mistakes but all about living your best life in the moment. In fact final song ‘Polaroid Picture’ is about just that, almost like he planned it. A perfect evening in the company of a very talented songwriter.

Review and Photos by Jon Cooper

Check Out! the Video for 'Photosynthesis' Below...