Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Mom Jeans, Emily Barker @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 29/11/2023
What a great night at Hindley Street Music Hall on Wednesday this week. Frank Turner was in brilliant form and he chose two excellent supports in Emily Barker and Mom Jeans. After a series of prior setbacks (COVID, support tour cancellations), and more recently misplaced baggage by an unnamed transport carrier, up until this evening, there was the potential for this gig never to have happened at all. I am very thankful that it did.
Long-time touring companion and collaborator ex-pat Emily Barker (now returned home to Australia after living and touring abroad for twenty two years) starts the proceedings with an intimate, well-received solo set. Emily has a brilliant voice and got huge cheers from the crowd when she hit the high notes in Wild to Be Sharing This Moment which is her latest single. My highlight was The Woman Who Planted Trees from her 2020 album. It is such a beautiful song and I can not wait to hopefully see it performed again when Emily returns to Adelaide one day. I had last seen her at the Wheatsheaf, and she was also brilliant that night.
Mom Jeans. are another beast altogether, a complete turnaround from what came before performing an alt-punk rock indie set that had one fan singing along and nearly throwing the band off when she sang the words before they did. Most songs played were from their 2016 album Best Buds and 2022 album Sweet Tooth. Many fans were singing to every song they played in this fantastic set and it was clear that many of them were just there to see Mom Jeans as they exited the front area after they finished. For their sakes, I hope they stayed around to see Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls put on a masterclass of a musical performance next.
Frank Turner may not have the widespread profile he deserves but he certainly has many loyal fans, singing along to nearly every song, he has a charisma and passion that can win you over in an instant. It is hard not to make comparisons with Billy Bragg, but Frank is less flippant and more heartfelt and more hardcore (it’s not for want of a reason that his latest album is titled such). From the start, it is immediately apparent that we are witnessing something special. Frank tells us it is gig number 2835 and that he has played in Adelaide over the last thirteen years. The whole band was looking very cool all dressed in white shirts with long sleeves. At times the energy of Mumford and Sons comes to mind in the rousing, shouted choruses perfectly written for audience participation. Backed by the Sleeping Souls (Ben Lloyd on guitar, Tarrant Anderson on bass and Matt Nasir on keys with latest addition Callum Green providing the backbeat), for most of the set apart from a portion played solo, they are later joined by Emily Barker on “I Still Believe” to round out the mammoth twenty four song set.
There was a beautiful tribute to his late friend Scott Hutchison of the band Frightened Rabbit on the song A Wave Across a Bay. Another highlight was the punchy and inspirational Haven’t Been Doing So Well from his excellent latest album which is a song about lifting yourself from depression. My favourite was Plain Sailing Weather from his extremely popular Tape Deck Heart album. Frank can write about depressing and dark things but make it so upbeat and relatable. Frank played the extremely catchy No Thank You For the Music which was a song from his next album and promised to tour again after it has been released.. Even before the highlight of an incredible encore tonight has already been a fulfilling, uplifting experience. Frank gets up and close with the audience in a way that would not have been possible in recent years, crowd surfing during Four Simple Words before returning to the stage to bring the show to a satisfying completion.
Live Review By Richard De Pizzol