Review and Photography by Robert Barrett

“Get down for 6:30” was the message sent out by Frank Turner and the venue, show is starting early. For those that did obey were treated to a diverse line up headlined by the ever-reliable Frank and his band.

For those that did make the early appearance, Frank came onstage like a curator to introduce the first act of the night Mash P. He kicked the show off with an incredibly funky afrobeat set, with the energy and passion infectious. Both barrier hovering Frank hardcore’s and intrigued causals busting a few moves throughout.

Next up the music took a turn from Sierra Leone to Texas, when Truck Stop Honeymoon took to the stage. A delightfully heartfelt and humorous set followed full of toe tapping hollering country style tunes.

The final support of the night was Colchester based PET NEEDS. The band upped the energy immediately with frontman Johnny jumping into the pit to sing with them. By now the room had properly filled up and the bands punk energy was exactly what they wanted.

Franks battle cry of “I want to dance” from set opener “Four Simple Words” felt like a call to arms for the moshers. His passionate fanbase singing every word, well as many as they could in-between jumping around.      

The topical and upfront lyrical content of Franks songs really shined through, the anti-fascist track “1933” sadly sounds more relevant every time he plays it. The solo acoustic part of the set also gave us a biting version of “Thatcher Fucked the Kids”.

When the band came back on for the final few tracks it took the energy to another level, and was a great send off for an incredible 4 hours of eclectic music.