Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Sound Academy, Toronto, December 3rd, 2013

Last night at Toronto’s Sound Academy, I had the great pleasure of seeing Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls. It was a magnificent four-hour evening of great live music, beginning with two Canadian warm-up acts: Billy the Kid, followed by July Talk, who are local to the Toronto music scene.

Billy the Kid hails from British Columbia, and she opened with an acoustic set that was a confident display of her guitar and songwriting skills. Her voice was strong and had an interesting, rich tone, and I enjoyed listening to her. Next up, July Talk was a more frantic, high-energy band, with two lead singers who bantered and provided us with great interplay and theatrics as they played a harder electric sound. They had great stage presence and clearly enjoyed themselves, and while I didn’t like their songs enough to consider buying their album, I would gladly go see them perform again. Highly entertaining and energetic.

Frank Turner came on just before 10pm, right after the sound system gifted us with a loud version of Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’. From the first moment he hit the stage with his band The Sleeping Souls, you knew this was going to be a show for the ages. He was without his customary guitar, which he explained early on in the evening with the disclosure of a back injury and the display of a brace under his shirt, but the effect on his energy levels was negligent: he flew around from side to side with his microphone stand, oblivious to his own limitations and determined to whip the sold-out crowd into the same frenzy that gripped him from start to finish. He sang with passion and force, dropped f-bombs in an inoffensive, causal manner that was completely charming, and bantered with the audience with such genuine affection that you felt the sincerity of his words: a gig is an exchange between performer and fans, and it demands engagement from both sides to make the show stellar.

And it was stellar last night. From every song he delivered, many of which came from the latest album ‘Tape Deck Heart’, he took us along for a great, energetic, fun ride. We danced, we jumped, hands were raised and clapped, and everyone sang along to every word, whether he invited them to or not. There was a sense of community and inclusion with each little joke shared onstage, with the sight mention of Toronto and his affection for the city he has performed in three times this year, and the love was sent right back in thunderous applause and immediate responses to his requests for louder singing or chanting. I loved the self-deprecating lyrics and comments he threw at us, the mosh pit that he bravely allowed himself to be lifted into, and the personal, grateful tone he adopted throughout the evening when addressing the crowd. Most of all, though, I loved his music, his energy, and the passion with which he delivered every note. When came out for the first encore with his guitar (‘Please don’t tell my doctor’) and sang a heartfelt version of Neil Young’s ‘Oh Lonesome Me”, I closed me eyes for the first time. It was that spectacular.

The night wasn’t perfect, thanks largely to a drunken fool next to me who almost tempted me into my first concert brawl for thumping his elbow into my recovering shoulder one too many times and being largely unapologetic about his behaviour, but nothing took away the magic of seeing Frank Turner live. Not even the overly sweet Molson cider I ordered. This is easily the best performance I have seen in Toronto this year, which is a huge compliment to Frank Turner considering the bands I’ve had the good fortune to hear in the last eleven months. Do yourselves a huge favour, folks, and give the man a listen. Preferably live.