Where the Bands Are (Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, 11 November 2024, Gothenburg)

Wasting no time – for they have show no 2973 and a 25-song setlist to get through – Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls launch into No Thank You for the Music, a loud punk number from the latest album, “Undefeated”. It’s just the first song, but the venue’s energy is already on top, mostly because of the excellent support acts: The Meffs and Skinny Lister.

Girl From the Record Shop comes next. He sings about how he fell for a girl who shares his love of music and runs her own record shop. The song allegedly is a love letter to Turner’s wife. [In September this year it was announced that their marriage is over].

1933 is fast-paced and aggressive, with driving guitar riffs and raw vocals. The punk rock vibe and the breakneck tempo, each song fading into the next, of that and many other songs in the set make the crowd wild. From my view on the balcony I see bodies slamming into each other, arms and legs swirling, and people’s foreheads shimmering with sweat as they engage in mosh pits and pogo dancing.

Seizing the moment, Turner urges to the crowd to follow his simple concert rules: “Rule number one,” he shouts. “Don’t be a dickhead!” By that he means; everyone is there to have a good time, so it’s crucial to treat each other with respect and take care of one another, especially in the mosh pit. If someone falls down, help them up; if someone looks like they need assistance, lend a hand.

“Rule number two, sing along if you know the words”. I don’t really know the words to all songs, and Turner delivers the lyrics like a machine gun, but it’s easy to get caught up in the intense atmosphere and I am really enjoying myself.

Rivers, Be More Kind and The Ballad of Me and My Friends mark the set’s acoustic portion. The band leave the stage and it’s just Turner and his guitar for a while.

I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous resumes the full band part and they play four more songs, including my favourite song I Still Believe, before leaving the stage, only to reappear after a few minutes for the encore.

Before singing Somewhere Inbetween Turner reveals a more introspective, vulnerable side. “I’m 42, and I still have no fucking idea what I’m doing with my life,” he admits before diving straight into the song’s heartbreaking first line: “I’ve been pretending to be somebody else since I was just fifteen,”

Frank Turner is truly a captivating frontman. He is constantly moving across the stage and he is communicating with the crowd. Suddenly he makes a daring stage dive and he tumbles through the crowd while still singing before he is returned back to the stage in one piece.

The show is over at about 11 pm and even though it’s a late Monday evening I feel invigorated as I leave the classic venue Pustervik in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Setlist: