Frank Turner

22nd November 2019

The Alhambra, Dunfermline

Frank Turner's most recent album is No Man's Land, a collection of thirteen songs each relating the tale of a different woman from history.  Some well-known (such as Christa McAuliffe and Rosetta Tharpe), others rather less so - Egyptian-born feminist Huda Sha'arawi and William Blake's long suffering wife Catherine, for example.

What each lady does have in common is a tale to tell.  And a tale which, in Frank's view, has been neglected or forgotten due to the individual's gender.  I am not quite sure I agree with this latter assertion, for I doubt very much that the circumstances surrounding the death of 19th Century singer/actress Dora Hand were lost to the public consciousness, solely due to the fact she was a woman.

Nevertheless, in Frank's hands the stories told are never less than engrossing, and occasionally both informative and poignant.  But in seemingly focusing all his energies into the telling of these remarkable lives, I cannot help but feel Frank occasionally lost sight of one crucial ingredient to any song – a good tune.

For whilst a couple of the tracks work really well; goodness me but a number are pretty hard work to sit through.  Step forward for sentencing I Believed You, William Blake and The Hymn of Kassiani please.

But Jinny Bingham's Ghost houses a pleasing frantic Skinny Lister thing going on.  And The Death of Dora Hand and Sister Rosetta are each enjoyable tunes, both of which I imagine will be finding their way into FT's live set for years to come.  Be sure to check out the haunting piano work (by Gill Sandell?) on Rescue Annie, as well.  

But many of the tracks on the album, even after repeated listenings, languidly drift by, barely leaving a trace.  Even Frank's tribute to his mother, Rosemary Jane, is a curiously insipid piece.

Frank Turner - Dunfermline 2019

Frank Turner - Dunfermline 2019

The show itself was split into two halves.  The first having Frank playing solo a selection from the No Man's Land album.  Thankfully most of the duffers were ignored, but with a number I certainly found FT's between-songs extrapolations rather more entertaining than the songs themselves.  For he really is an intelligently witty raconteur.

Following the break, The Sleeping Souls pitched in as Frank, continuing the story motif of the evening, took the opportunity to sort of chart his own musical journey using a collection of songs from across his career.  His affairs of the heart were also related from Substitute to There She Is via the “Amy Trilogy”.

I am sure the more obsessive Turner fans and, indeed, the man himself, would have enjoyed this meander along some of these less well-traveled roads.  But you could feel a sort of patient resigned air emanate from the seated crowd, as the title of another obscurio was announced:  Balthalzar, Impresario and Love Forty Down, anyone?

For it was telling that the atmosphere in the place jacked up exponentially when FT rewarded our patience with a trio of his more rumbustious tunes, before sending us home with the eminently sensible entreaty to Be More Kind.

Set list

Jinny Bingham's Ghost
The Graveyard of the Outcast Dead
I Believed You, William Blake
Silent Key
The Death of Dora Hand
Sister Rosetta
Rosemary Jane
The Lioness
                                                               Interval
The Ballad of Me and My Friends
I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
Journey of the Magi
Substitute
Isabel
Redemption
Reasons Not To Be an Idiot
I am Disappeared
Tell Tale Signs
One Foot Before The Other
The Way I Tend To Be
The Opening Act of Spring
Love Forty Down
There She Is
Don't Worry
Balthazar, Impresario
Photosynthesis
Recovery
I Still Believe
Be More Kind

Ben Lloyd

Nigel Powell

Frank even had a bash away on keyboards during There She Is, the song written for his new wife Jessica.

Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls - Dunfermline 2019