Frank Turner’s 3000th show was at the historical Alexandra Palace in London. It was a sold-out show with more than 10,000 fans, and you could feel the anticipation for the night in the queue. Many fans were already wearing Frank’s Merch for the night, and some had probably watched his acoustic set at 93 Feet East the day before.
The Meffs
On a night filled with great UK artists, we kicked off with The Meffs, from the duo Lily Hopkins and Lewis Copsey bringing the venue to a great start, with a very energetic and alive performance that even some 4-piece bands can’t deliver. After their show, Lily spent some time talking to the fans on the side of the stage, creating an even stronger connection to the crowd.
The Lottery Winners
Right after, we got The Lottery Winners joining the stage, a quite well-known group here in the UK, which besides being a bit less heavy than The Meffs or even Frank, they deliver very catchy tunes and they’re always accompanied by Thom Rylance’s brilliant onstage jokes and crowd engagement, with the song “Turn Around” getting the whole crowd following the “left – right – side to side – that’s right – turn around” instructions and the emotional “Letter to Myself”, which was recorded with Frank Turner originally.
Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls
Frank Turner was highly expected, with a UK number 1 album and an important part of the UK music scene. Before his entrance to the stage, a countdown started ramping up to 3000, where Frank entered the stage with his guitar to a very excited reaction from the crowd. He started with “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” as the crowd sang along and led the opening for the band The Sleeping Souls to join him on stage during “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous” and started getting even more energetic, with a perfect blend of songs from all across Frank’s career, such as “Do One,” “The Next Storm” and “If Ever I Stray.”
Each of the songs elicited a huge fan reaction and after about 13 songs, Frank reappeared alone on stage again with his acoustic Guitar, but he was not singing alone there were hundreds of choirs at times of all the people in the crowd, with more emotional songs playing at times. At the end of the second acoustic bit, the screens displayed images of the stained glass disappearing and The Sleeping Souls reappearing for the remaining part and encore.
The encore began with one of his newest songs, “Undefeated,” while “Polaroid Picture” induced a succession of crowd surfers to the stage area. Some were highlighted on the main screens of the stage. During the encore, we had both The Meffs and Lottery Winners members back to sing and dance together with Frank, highlighting that the night was more than just a celebration to Frank, but to all his friends and fans he made along those 3000 shows. This was definitely a night to remember, and I’ll be looking forward the next 3000 or 30000 concerts from Frank Turner.
GALLERY: Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls with The Lottery Winners at Alexandra Palace in London (February 22, 2025)
