Yes, we went to another Frank Turner show
The last time Frank Turner played at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, he was supporting pop-punk titans Blink 182. Alas, this time, we didn’t fall in love with a girl at this rock show; but, we did fall in love with one support act, wonder why the hell we hadn’t seen another before, and re-awaken our undying love for one of the best singer-songwriters in the game today. So, all in all, we’re happy to call that a win.
What’s that? You’re dying to know precisely what we thought of each of the three acts on the bill on that cold, gloomy Saturday in the Welsh capital? Oh, go on then.
Grace Petrie
If you’re a fan of socially-aware lyrical whizzkids, performers that veer constantly between pissed-off and laugh-out-loud hilarious, and/or genuinely talented melody writers, you’re going to adore Grace Petrie. We mean, ‘And the images that fucked ya / Were a patriarchal structure / And you never will surrender / To a narrow view of gender’? COME ON.
Jimmy Eat World
Do we really need to tell you who Jimmy Eat World are? After all, we’re sure that everyone here spent a lot of their teenage years angsting out/bopping along/memorising the lyrics to Bleed American; heck, we know damn well that you can still remember every single word to The Middle and we won’t believe you if you say you can’t.
You’ll be relieved to know, then, that their set at Cardiff’s foremost arena-sized venue allowed us to put this knowledge to good use. Not only did they play a plethora of tracks from their later – and actually very good – albums, but they dutifully wheeled out each and everyone one of ‘the hits’, culminating in a one-two sucker punch of Sweetness and The Middle that came dangerously close to finishing off the already-battered remnants of this humble reviewer’s vocal cords. That, dear reader, is what we call a solid support set.
Frank Turner
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re more than a little bit keen on Frank Turner here at One on One HQ. In our eyes, he’s one of the best singer/songwriters in the game today: and, who can blame us? After all, once you’ve pumped out the likes of I Still Believe, Recovery, The Ballad of Me and My Friends and Plain Sailing Weather, started a handful of side-projects and, y’know, written a couple of books, we think that most people would agree with us when we say that you’re pretty freakin’ cool.
Fortunately for everyone in the vicinity tonight, it’s safe to say that Mr. Turner has also gotten this whole ‘being a properly good live act’ thing down to a tee, too. Not only was his set a two-hour-long masterclass in how to hold a sold-out arena in the palm of your hand, but we also forgot just how many bangers this man has written. We got them all, too- oh, and he even through in an (admittedly impressive) Welsh-language version of Eulogy. How nice was that?
So, dear reader, the general consensus here is that you really should head down to a Frank Turner show at your earliest convenience. Sure, he may well spend a lot of his time attempting to convince you to Try This At Home; but, while somebody who’s this good at it is still making his way around our fair shores, why on earth wouldn’t you want to go along to watch a master at work? Trust us when we say that you won’t regret it.