The last few years have been something of a dream for Frank Turner. We’ve witnessed a rise in success that has seen him go from a relatively unknown (to anyone who wasn’t previously a fan of his post-hardcore outfit Million Dead), to the folk-punk household name that has graced the daytime BBC airwaves, headlined Wembley Arena with support from Billy Bragg (arguably the original Frank Turner), and performed at the Olympic opening ceremony.

The socially and politically opinionated boy-next-door has had his show upgraded from The Corn Exchange to The Dome’s Concert Hall tonight due to demand, and as a mixed crowd of fans that seemed to age between sixteen and fifty throw their hands in the air, Frank takes the stage to celebrate his 1300th gig.

Opening his set with ‘I Am Disappeared’ followed by ‘Reasons Not To Be An Idiot’, it was obvious we were in store for a set that would span his short but illustrious career so far. Instantly the Dome was buzzing with excitement as the words were sang back at Frank and his backing band, The Sleeping Souls. The guy next to us was even waving his crutches in the air before the fun police came and told him to stop.

Returning to a point we made previously about the age range of the fans tonight: what was odd about this was that there seemed to be a big divide between those who knew the words to his first two albums, and those who only seemed familiar with his more recent London 2012-friendly singles. These songs got the older section of the crowd dancing like they hadn’t been out in a while and was reminiscent of Elvis Costello or Squeeze concerts we’ve been to in recent years.

For a handful of the older songs, the band left the stage and Frank went solo. This was when the Frank Turner hardcore really made their voices heard, especially so when he played ‘Worst Things Happen At Sea’ and Million Dead cover ‘Smiling At Strangers On Trains’ which was a rarity even at his pre-2010 gigs.

The whole crowd was united when he announced that they were filming a video for ‘Four Simple Words’, everybody was urged to go as crazy as they could which led to some wild dance moves and more crutch-waving (this time from another injured attendee at the opposite side of the venue) whilst Frank seemed to have control of the crowd in a way that was somehow akin to Mickey Mouse and his broomsticks in ‘Fantasia’. This image repeated itself during the encore. The song ‘Photosynthesis’ contains the lyrics “I won’t sit down”, to which some members of the crowd began to sit down – as is tradition. Frank instructed everyone else to join them, making sure that they were aware of the point that they were expected to jump up again, so as not to look incredibly stupid in front of everybody else.

Ending the set with a dedication to his friend Dan, the aptly named ‘Dan’s Song’ saw Frank put down his guitar and climb into the crowd for his punk-rock finisher. Frank Turner is a guy who’s love for his fans radiates from him, and vowing to make sure he played more shows in Brighton in the future left the crowd beaming as they spilled out of the venue. The wait was shorter for us though, as we were fortunate enough to meet him in the pub afterwards.

The Dome, Wednesday 28th November 2012
Words by Chris Biggs
Photos by Jack Beard