Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls Return To The US…

Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls 2019 Spring Concert Tour of the US started this past weekend. While their tour is a co-headline tour with Shovels & Rope, they started a few days early at the Dome at The Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut with the bands Rebuilder and Murder By Death opening the show.

The Spring tour will culminate in Frank’s annual Lost Evenings Festival being held in Boston at the House of Blues from May 16th through the 19th. This consists of four consecutive days of Frank Turner with The Sleeping Souls joining him for the last three. There will be a variety of artists sharing the stage with him and by all accounts from the first two Lost Evenings Festivals held at the venerable Roundhouse in London, this is a very special event!

Rebuilder kicked off the night with their brand of high-energy punk that got the crowd moving. These boys from Boston formed in 2013 and have garnered critical acclaim during their 6 years of existence. Four times nominated for Best Punk Band in Boston, this self-proclaimed gnarly punk band has been hitting the highways and byways of North America so get out and see them when they play near you!

Up next were the powerful yet otherworldly sounds of Murder By Death. For the unfamiliar, they are not a hardcore punk band as the name might imply. Formed in 2000, they have put together a large catalog of albums and EPs during the last 19 years. Their music is difficult to put into a standard music category but one can see influences from many styles of music including Goth, folk, symphonic rock with a healthy dose of Nick Cave added for good measure. They blend these influences into a conglomeration that is quite unique and they deliver it with the bravado of any punk band out there, which keeps the audience riveted to what is presented to them, which is no small feat for an opening act.

By now, the floor was packed with folks who traveled to the Oakdale from all over the Northeast and beyond to see Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls on the 2019 continuation of their Be More Kind Tour. They hit the ground running, opening the show with the rollicking “Out of Breath” and they were more energetic than a band who had just flown to the US after a run of shows in the UK should have been. Frank, bassist Tarrant Anderson, and guitarist Ben Lloyd were in constant motion throughout the show and one could tell that keyboardist / mandolin player Matt Nasir and drummer Nigel Powell would have joined them had their instruments allowed.

The band’s set consisted of a wide array of songs from their catalog with every song being well received by their adoring fans. There were some familiar moments during the set, which included the Sleeping Souls leaving the stage a little more than midway through the set to let Frank sing several solo songs. Also familiar to those who have seen Frank Turner perform is his much-loved show-ending crowd surfing to his punk edged song “Four Simple Words” including a dance with an audience member. What is really new and exciting is the new light show. The lighting truly enhances the performance and never overpowers it with constant strobe / spot lights with heavy opaque fog as happens at many shows these days.

While waiting for the main act to start, audience conversations ranged from “When did you see Frank and the band last?” to “How many times will you see them on this tour?” and the ever popular, “Are you going to the Lost Evenings???” Perhaps Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls don’t have the number of rabid fans as the Grateful Dead did but they certainly have fans with the same intensity as the fans of that legendary touring band. If you have never seen Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls perform, that statement might seem a bit odd. For those who have seen this band in concert, you certainly know why they have such devout fans. With that said, if you’ve never seen this highly infectious band perform, get out and see them on this tour. If you have seen them in concert, you certainly don’t need any prodding to see them again!

Check out Frank Turner’s Spring 2019 Tour Schedule HERE.

Review and photos by Rich Russo