In this time of no concerts due to social distancing and being socially responsible, it’s time to take a look backwards. We’ll be taking a pictorial day by day look at the 2019 version of Frank Turner’s “Lost Evenings Festival at Boston’s House of Blues. As of this writing, the 2020 version of this annual festival is still on as scheduled. It’s to be held in mid-May in Berlin, Germany. Frank is not one to cancel performances without an awful lot of thought but most importantly, without great reason! Time will tell if the 2020 version will happen.
The 2019 LE3 as it was known was hosted by the fun loving duo of Koo Koo Kanga Roo. If one has never seen them perform, one doesn’t quite know how to take the energetic pair. Quickly one is bopping along with their infectious songs. While they performed later in the festival, their main purpose was to entertain the crowd as they introduced the next main stage act of the evenings. First up on the evening was Hayley Thompson-King. Hayley and her band kicked things off with an upbeat set. They played hard driving rock laced with a lot of country influence that really took the crowd by storm.
Following Thompson-King was the indi-pop folk singer Jenny Owen Youngs. From Montclair, NJ, she has toured worldwide. In doing so, she has gained a large following of folks who appreciate her songwriting as well as her vocal range. Her songs are often introspective and they resonate with many. After Jenny Owen Youngs came world renowned folk singer and humorist, Louden Wainwright III. Wainwright is in his 70’s but his stage presence would make one think he was several decades younger! He thrilled the audience with both songs and a bit of written word performance.
Frank Turner closed out the first evening with a solo performance. Turner performed the set armed merely with an acoustic guitar and, at one point, a harmonica with the aid of his long time guitar tech Cahir O’Doherty. His set consisted of songs both popular and obscure (see set list in photo album). Frank’s solo set was one which highlighted his great songwriting ability. A full band set is full of a great amount of energy derived from all of the moving parts which sometimes overshadows the details of the songs. This is not the case with a solo Frank Turner set!
