Stencil Mag Issue 11

Newport Centre - November 23rd - 2011 When Frank Turner announced that he was playing Newport Centre most people didn’t think that he would be able to sell out a venue of that size or people to pull off a show in that big a setting. How wrong those people were! Having not played Newport since 2004 with noise merchants Million Dead, the people of Newport had been waiting for this for a very long time. The moment he stepped onto the stage it already had that special feeling about the show, almost as if it was the hometown hero returning. Backed by his brilliant backing band they perfectly performed through a mammoth set including songs from all previous albums and the next album. Halfway through the set he apologetically told the story of how he hadn’t been back to Newport in 7 years and that he intends to come back really soon, which made the crowd erupt even louder than they had for the rest of the night. Even the seemingly odd choice of a Queen cover could not derail the show tonight. It is no wonder that Frank Turner is becoming the solo artist to see on the festival circuit as of late, as songs such as “Photosynthesis”, “I Still Believe” and “Long Live The Queen” seem perfectly written for a bigger audience and had the diehards and the first time newcomers dancing and singing all night. It also contained Confetti falling from the ceiling. Does it get any better than that? Frank Turner is one of if not the acoustic artist in the country right now and tonight’s show was easy to see why. BS