A Decent Cup of Tea
Well here we are again, one year on from what seemed like a real pinnacle in Mr Turner’s career when he played a great set to a crowd that knew all the words and clearly moved him. Bit of a deja vu today then but with one notable difference; the crowd is about three times bigger than last year!
The sound is great and the crowd are all smiling (maybe there were some good drugs knocking about?) as Frank and band kick it all of with ‘I knew Prufrock before he got famous’. There are lots of hands in the air from the crowd and the novelty of seeing most of the crowd singing along is yet to wear off. This fact isn’t lost on Frank either and he uses it well, particularly in ‘Fathers Day’, which was just made for crowd participation.
There’s a good mix of songs from both albums in the set with ‘Reasons Not to be an Idiot’, personal favourite ‘Back in the Day’ and ‘The Real Damage’ all fitting together nicely. The most poignant moment though comes with ‘Long Live the Queen’, written about a friend that recently passed away it has taken on extra significance since it was announced that it’s to be released as a single in aid of a breast cancer charity. The strain of the previous days show at Reading and giving it everything here causes Frank’s voice to crack half way through but the crowd are singing loud enough to carry him.
The crowd has continued to grow steadily throughout the half hour set and Frank is clearly enjoying himself, seemingly buoyed by the reception he’s getting he turns in a fine performance. ‘Photosynthesis’ is brilliant and ‘Vital Signs’ isn’t far behind but of course it’s left to traditional set closer ‘The Ballad of me & my Friends’ to really take the roof off (do tents have roofs?!). There’s little doubt that this has been yet another career high and with the October tour selling well it seems there’s no stopping the guy at the moment but when his shows are as good and as fun as this there’s no reason to.