May 2, 2011 Frank Turner

Beat Kitchen, Roscoe Village, Chicago, IL

If you love energetic, well crafted and cleverly written rock'n'roll songs, then I recommend this man to you. Frank Turner. I saw him open for Flogging Molly last year at the Aragon. That place is pretty big for an opening act of a man & his guitar. I thought he was amazing. I bought his "Love Ire & Song" and "Poetry Of The Deed" CD's. I haven't stopped listening to them since last spring. Then I saw him at Lollapalooza last August. This time he brought his band. They play at noon during a rain storm. They were fantastic. I was so glad I got up early to see them. I gave my friend Adam copies of both of Frank Turner's albums. I knew Adam, who is a music fan like me, would love these songs. He did and lucky for me because Adam has a twitter account. He found out that Frank Turner was playing at the Beat Kitchen, a little bar with stage in the back. We got there early and Frank was selling t-shirts, signing CD's and taking pictures with everyone there. We got a chance to talk music with him before and after the show. The show was amazing. I love seeing bands in small venues. The crowd was singing along with every song which is exactly what Frank wanted us to do. He told us we were the backing vocalists. It is hard to describe what makes a song great to an individual. I think if it speaks to you personally or you feel like you could have written it about yourself then that song becomes a favorite. Frank Turner has done that for me. A common theme is growing older and jaded but not disillusioned. Hell, that sounds like most of the posts on this blog. Here's a few of my favorites....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xfdGXA62ZM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c21SfaAwBw0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKkIysX2Bow&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66knvY3vxsA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RbNdwY4ujw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMVHhxTtLc&feature=related