Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls 'Undefeated' Tour

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls

It has been nearly a year since Frank Turner released his 10th studio album 'Undefeated', and yet, in true Turner style, he still finds himself touring in support of the record. Over the past two decades, Frank, who is often accompanied by his live band 'The Sleeping Souls', has toured relentlessly, meaning last night's 'Undefeated' show in Cambridge was show number 3018. With this many shows under his belt, it is no surprise Frank has gained himself a loyal fanbase, many of whom found themselves packed into the Cambridge Corn Exchange last night as part of a capacity crowd eagerly anticipating a night of punk and folk-rock brilliance.

As the lights dimmed, a rapturous reception greeted Frank and the Sleeping Souls, who instantly burst into a riotous version of 'No Thank You for the Music'. It took very little encouragement from Frank to get the crowd moving, with circle pits opening on the very first song, and rarely closing from that point onwards. The standing section of the Corn Exchange would become one large dance floor for the next two hours, and even the balcony section was witnessing more energetic movement than normal. The set opener was briskly followed by another newer track, 'Girl From the Record Shop'. Whilst these two tracks may have been out for a year now, they were significantly newer than many of the tracks played, and yet received equally large support, highlighting just how important Frank's newer music is in the context of his full discography.

The two tracks from Undefeated were swiftly followed by fan favourite '1933', which led to the Cambridge faithful finding another notch in their voices, bringing the loudest singalongs of the night thus far. As this track came to a close, Frank would take a moment to properly welcome all in attendance to show number 3018, which was also his 20th show in Cambridge. I was also lucky enough to be at Frank's 19th show in the city, which took place at the smaller Cambridge Junction in 2022. That night was near musical perfection, with Frank thriving in the grittier, more intimate venue. However there can be no doubt Frank's music becomes significantly more anthemic when played in bigger rooms. You will struggle to find more thunderous singalongs than those which happen at a Frank Turner show. It was also during this introduction section that Frank would (re)familiarise the night's audience with the two rules everyone must follow at his shows. Rule 1: Don't be a d*ckhead. Rule 2: Sing-along if you know the words. It is safe to say the Cambridge crowd more than happily obliged, spending the entire night providing the most loving community-driven backing to Frank and his band. 

Despite the show being billed as 'Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls', it is no secret that it is of course Frank Turner's solo music being played, yet very rarely does this feel like a solo show. The moment these songs are taken on stage by Frank and co. they have a whole new life driven into them in a way that only the most cohesive of groups could achieve. Furthermore to this, Frank also makes sure every member of the Sleeping Souls gets their moment in the spotlight, both figuratively and literally (thanks to Frank's incredible touring team). During an energetic performance of 'Photosynthesis' which had the crowd up jumping, Ben Lloyd would take centre stage to deliver a rip-roaring solo on the electric mandolin, which was greatly received by the crowd. This was then followed by a stellar performance of newer track 'Letters', which brought bassist Tarron Anderson to the forefront. Before playing the song, Frank pre-warned the audience about a bass solo which would take place in the song's second verse, joking, "It took him 10 albums to get one, but he finally got a bass solo on the record". Tarrant made full use of the moment his solo arrived, jumping onto what keyboard player Matt Nasir humorously referred to as a 'Glorybox' to deliver the solo.

However, Frank's highlighting of those around him went far beyond the four multi-talented musicians on stage with him, taking the opportunity of a mic-swap moment to shout out the crew that helped put the tour together and keep it running. Without crews, so many live shows wouldn't be possible and Frank makes sure that is abundantly clear, even if he chose to do so moments after a mic has to be replaced because he had filled the previous one up too much with his spit to the point it was starting to fail.

After these moments of appreciation, and a further string of career-spanning songs and stories, The Sleeping Souls would momentarily step off the stage, leaving Frank standing alone in the centre with just an acoustic guitar and a singular spotlight. This sort of musical intimacy is how Frank started his solo career, and moments like this often become highlights of his sets. The solo acoustic section kicked off with a stunning version of 'Tattoos', before a poignant speech about the global political climate led into a breathtaking version of 'Be More Kind'. The last full song played by Frank acoustically was 'The Ballad of Me and My Friends', a song all about the positive community that can surround grassroots music. The singalong to this track is always a highlight of a Frank Turner concert, but what I enjoyed most last night was the speech Frank gave upon the song's finish. He first began shouting out the Music Venue Trust, a charity which Frank is a patron of, fighting to keep alive grassroots music venues across the country. This led to Frank explaining how he has chosen the opening artists for each night of this tour, providing local musicians the opportunity to highlight their work on a larger platform. Last night's opener was the sensation Minnie Birch, who delivered a truly spellbinding set that showed off her vocal prowess and poetic lyricism in the most perfect way. Frank has also been joined for every night on this stretch of the tour by Amigo the Devil, a mind-blowingly talented roots-inspired group who were as funny as they were musically impressive.

The acoustic section would be brought to an end by Love Ire & Song, as Frank started the song solo with his acoustic guitar, before being joined on stage by keyboardist Matt Nasir. Matt would then be followed by the rest of the Sleeping Souls, making the last chorus of the song the most tremendous full-band affair. Despite being at the back of the stage for most of the set, next to drummer Callum Green, Matt Nasir would make his presence more than known through a mixture of brilliant backing vocals and hilarious on-stage antics with Green. On several occasions, Nasir could be seen pulling faces and making funny remarks to the drummer, constantly trying to throw him off in the most lovingly hilarious way. 

With the full line-up of Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls now back on stage, it was time for the home stretch to the end of the main set. Some huge tracks were featured in this section of the night, including an enthusiastic performance of new favourite 'Do One' and a relentless rendition of 'Try This at Home'. The main set was eventually brought to a close by the upbeat 'I Still Believe', providing one last opportunity to dance before the encore would arrive. Frank and the band would also be joined at the end of this song by Frank's guitar tech who would smash his way through the song's impressive harmonica solo. The performance of 'I Still Believe' was seemingly as close to musical perfection as you could get, but yet the crowd still wanted more, and who can blame them!

Luckily for those wanting more, the age-old trope of an encore exists, with Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls to re-emerge for four more songs, the first of which was the night's last song from the new record, 'Somewhere Inbetween'. It was visibly clear throughout this performance just how much this song means to Turner, delivering an emotionally driven rendition of the track. A transition from new to old would then take place, as a trio of Turner's timeless classics brought the night to an end. A lively performance of 'Polaroid Picture' would start the triad, being followed by an impassioned version of 'Get Better' which was sung back to Frank & Co. as if the audience's life depended on it. A quick instrument change over would then take place, with Frank passing his guitar over to his tech (who would then play it on the last song) so he could focus solely on singing and directly the crowd through a chaotically brilliant performance of 'Four Simple Words'. Frank began the song sprinting around the stage, like an energised madman until the stage was no longer big enough, at which point he would find himself crowd-surfing throughout the standing section of the Corn Exchange. By the time Frank returned to the stage we were nearing the end of the song, but that did not mean the fun was over. Frank stood centre stage to guide the audience through the most beautiful ballet section, before one more mass of limbs could be created for the final chorus. This was the most flawless way to end a night that truly could not have been anymore perfect.

On his records, Frank Turner is a musical juggernaut, but his brilliance is taken to a whole new level on stage, particularly when he teams up with the Sleeping Souls. Whether you consider yourself a fan of folk/punk or not, a Frank Turner concert is an experience everybody should go through at least once in their lifetime. And once you have been for the first time, you will never want to stop going.