Frank Turner / Meme Love / Ben Marwood / Jim Lockey

The venue was the amazingly structured Proud Galleries in the heart of The Stables Market in Camden. The event was a night of live vocally strong music with Frank Turner as the headline act. The reason for the show was originally to raise money for the homeless charity, Shelter. However a few days before the gig, a well-known music venue on Holloway Road, Nambucca (and the flats above it), burnt down, leaving 14 people homeless; and Frank decided that the proceeds of the event would go towards his newly homeless pals.

With this cause in mind, it was very different to any other gig I have ever attended. There was a true sense of friendship and good will in the derelict stables, as everyone knew what they were there for and that there were people in the room who had recently lost their homes and that was the most important thing that evening.

The first act onstage was Jim Lockey, a young Frank Turner in the making with his poignant lyrics about life and his brilliant guitar playing skills. His initial nerves took him off to a shaky start but the longer he was onstage, the more he let loose and his cheeky character shone through. The audience particularly enjoyed his song entitled ‘Happy Birthday Cunt’, which tells the story of bumping into someone from school in a pub and the awkward obligatory conversation that follows, ending with the short, sharp line, “I hope we never meet again.”.

Next up was Ben Marwood, a solo musician carrying on the theme of folksy music with real-life lyrics and musical backing from his guitar. Marwood had a distinct tinge of Jack Johnson and gave a very impressive and passionate performance. Unfortunately, due to his gentle voice and the anticipation of Frank coming onstage, the audience sometimes drowned him out slightly with babble. However, he held his own and was boosted with Turner, shouting encouragement from the crowd during Marwood’s set. The crowd revelled in the performance of his song, ‘Oh My Days!’ with it’s catchy tune and moving lyrics - “I will still be this cynical when I get paid and I’ll be this way until I get laid.”

The last support act was the quirky but adorable Meme Love and her fellow band members (2 guys and a girl) who played cello, bass and keyboard respectively. There were a few laughs in the audience when Meme stepped onstage with tinsel around her neck and picked up what looked like a toy accordion. However, her performance was mesmerising and all of the band members played their instruments with great musical skill. Love’s voice was positively beautiful with a sultry tone to it. She floated around the stage while producing beautiful lyrics and even gave a rendition of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Mountains’, which was very strong and got the crowd singing along. At one point Meme actually handed out cupcakes to the audience, saying “Today I made cupcakes. It’s a bit weird but thought I might as well hand them out.”

After Meme, the atmosphere in the venue was buzzing and as Frank Turner took the stage, the evening came to it’s electrifying climax. Turner seemed to be as excited as the audience to be there, as he explained the tragedy that had happened at Nambucca and pointed out his friends at the side of the stage, who the money was being raised for. He then launched into what can only be described as an hour of pure passion, emotional vocals, and immensely professional guitar-playing.

As Turner ploughed through his heart-rendering tunes, the feeling in the room was one of great unity, and seeing this man perform live is something that should be recommended to everyone, whether you are a fan of his music or not. Before he played ‘Substitute’, based around the story of his past relationships, he gave out a personal apology to his ‘beautiful girlfriend Isabella’ for the contents of the song. In one swift swoop, he went from the slow ballad into a hardcore rendition of ’Who the fuck are Slipknot?’ that had the crowd jumping all over the place.

He definitely held the room during his performance, jumping all over the stage with voice risen, spit flying and raw emotion emanating from his being. Lockey joined him on the harmonica at one point with Turner showing his genuine affection for the young artist, describing him as his new best friend and exclaiming, “Jimmy. I love you. Let’s have sex!”

The show paused momentarily while Frank conducted the money-raising raffle and explained, “Some of my friends have been left fucking destitute. So we’re raising money for them… Nambucca was my second home… We’re going to make sure you lot are alright.” Frank went on to give a clearly emotional and mesmerising performance of the breast cancer charity single ‘Long Live the Queen’, in memory of his deceased friend.

The crowd were extremely hyped up and the feeling in the room was electric as Turner announced, “Do you guys fancy a sing along? This year has been fucking insane for me. I’m so humbled by you guys standing here and singing along to my songs… The most important thing about Nambucca was the sense of untiy. I’m going to play now and we’re all going to sing together.”

As he flew into ‘The Ballad Of Me And My Friends’, the crowd became one, as those who knew the lyrics sang their hearts out, while others just soaked up the atmosphere. As the song drew to a close, Turner announced, “This is the best fucking Christmas show ever!” And you know what, I think he might be right.

FUTURE GIGS