Rockfreaks.net

support Hannah Rose Platt
author PP date 29/10/23 venue Lille VEGA, Copenhagen, DEN

Live music is back, baby. This is the second show within a short period of time with non-mainstream bands selling out a venue in Copenhagen well in advance of the scheduled date. It looked bleak for a while during Corona and in its immediate aftermath, but it seems like we're back in business, once again. It does mean, however, that the venues have forgotten what a sell-out show means. For example, forgetting to turn off the air conditioning despite it being a classic Danish fall evening out there. It feels like it's somewhere between 30 and 35 degrees inside Lille Vega tonight as fans have packed up close and tight to suck in every bit of a rare Frank Turner acoustic set without the full band present. I don't blame them, as the best Frank Turner experience has always been the stripped-down one rather than the one meant for the larger clubs.

Hannah Rose Platt

The supporting duties tonight land on Hannah Rose Platt, an unconventional singer-songwriter from the UK, who focuses on ghost and horror stories told via a minimalistic guitar and bass format. It's just her and her supporting bassist on stage, where she attempts to encompass Lille Vega into a shroud of mystery and mythology, focusing mostly on songs specifically written for the Nordic tour, based on various Nordic horror/mythology stories. Her voice is great, but unfortunately, the songs are nothing-saying. The audience is busier talking amongst themselves, resulting in her set drowning in people babbling while she's just there, standing still, casually strumming her guitar. There's a song that's Western style, another that's folk-based, and yet another with some electronic backing, and she explains every one of them in excruciating detail before getting on with them. Unless you're a horror story geek, there's really nothing going on here of interest, where people seep through to the bar areas as her set progresses. This is more suited for Roskilde's experimental Gloria stage rather than as a warm-up for something as energetic as Frank Turner.

Frank Turner

Oh man, Frank Turner stripped down in an acoustic guitar with Matt Nasir helping out on mandolin. Didn't think I'd get a chance to catch the original acoustic guitar shredder in his natural habitat ever again once The Sleeping Souls era took over. But here we are, leaving Frank armed with his best weapon, his raw charisma, and his fervent pipes, which stand out exceptionally whenever they're isolated into an acoustic format as tonight. Unsurprisingly, the result is one of the most charming, passionate Frank Turner experiences in more than a decade, despite the hoodies costing a ridiculous 450,- DKK a pop downstairs at the merch stand.

Tonight, we're treated to a solid mixture of his back catalogue where pretty much every album is represented. But what's different is hearing some of these full-band songs in their stripped-down format, and of course, hearing the original material from "Love Ire & Song" and "Sleep Is For The Week" in the style it was originally written in. As such, the sing-alongs feel louder without the electronic amps overtaking the soundscape, so we spend largely the entirety of his set singing along from the top of our lungs. From the get-go, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends" incites the crowd into a loud response as Frank replaces the "And tonight I'm playing another Nambucca show" bit with another COPENHAGEN show, displaying his natural flair for crowd control right away.

The crowd might be singing along louder to "If I Ever Stray", and it is cool to see it in a fully acoustic format without all the additional fanfare (yes - it sounds better without the full band!), but it is "The Gathering" that convinces me tonight is going to be a special set. It's an angry, post-lockdown song from "FTHC" but the lyrics are just so much clearer and feel more impactful when it's just Turner shredding away on his acoustic guitar and screaming along in the process.

"Welcome to concert number 12826", he says in broken Danish, before continuing to clunkily claim "as you can hear, I speak perfect Danish but tonight I will practice my English", still in Danish to the amusement of the crowd. Later, he sings all of "Eulogy" in Danish after explaining he promised last time that he would spend every day until the next time learning Danish in order to do the song better this time. It's funny and charming, but maybe just stick to English, eh Frank?

In the meantime, Matt Nasir is on the receiving end of a bunch of jokes about him having to pick up a mandolin just for this tour, despite the man having done it so many years now in the past. The two have an awesome dynamic on stage, where they mix in internal jokes and crowd control in what feels like a genuine connection throughout. It culminates in Turner breaking his A string during "Recovery", where they're able to finish the song only with the mandolin out of the blue, and while the guitar is being repaired (he only brought one on the tour), they play an unrehearsed song "Live And Let Die" while the crowd eggs them on.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, though. Before this, songs like "The Road" had the crowd roaring along, while the anti-fascist "1933" saw people with fists in the air and agreeing to every word that was just said. Here, again, is a great example of a song that just sounds even better in the angry acoustic guitar man version, rather than the full band one.

"The Way I Tend To Be" features a perfect a capella bit for the crowd with its "I rememmmmmberrrr you" bits. It's a magical moment. Frank then takes it down a notch by explaining that "Haven't Been Doing So Well" is about anxiety where everyone should take the hardest step, which is to ask for help, before getting better. Turns out his anxiety is guitar solos, so Matt jokes maybe it should be BOTH the first and second one he should do. Frank looks disturbed, but it's all fun and games, and part of the show.

Meanwhile, rarities like "Substitute" and "Josephine" (dedicated to a girl called Simone, who is apparently at her 100th Frank Turner show, holy shit!) entertain parts of the crowd that know the depth of his back catalogue, before they play a brand new song in the form of "Do One" from an album that's due next year. We're also told the full band will return to Denmark next year (this gotta be Roskilde, right?).

"I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous" is an excellent reminder of how acoustic guitar can still bring about aggressive punk rock melodies, while "Photosynthesis" has us all singing along to its " I won't sit down, I won't shut up, most of all I won't grow up" bits long into the night.

The atmosphere is as down to earth as it gets, with an electrifying response from the crowd. It feels like Frank is playing with his friends and is genuinely enjoying every moment of it. It's memorable and features so many accidental mistakes and random moments that make it feel like the Copenhagen show was a unique one. Frank has always had a great relationship with the Danish crowd, and tonight is no exception. One of the best I've seen the man play since the early days.

Setlist:

• 1. The Ballad Of Me And My Friends
• 2. If I Ever Stray
• 3. The Gathering
• 4. Little Changes
• 5. The Road
• 6. 1933
• 7. The Opening Act of Spring
• 8. The Way I Tend to Be
• 9. Haven't Been Doing So Well
• 10. Substitute
• 11. Josephine
• 12. Eulogy
• 13. Love Forty Down
• 14. Do One
• 15. Be More Kind
• 16. I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
• 17. Miranda
• 18. Photosynthesis
• 19. Recovery
• 20. Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
• 21. Get Better
• 22. I Still Believe