Frank Turner and the Sleepy Souls
May 28, 2024
RoxianTheatre
Pittsburgh, PA
Andrew Latshaw
Another day, another show! Today we are talking about the show at the Roxian Theater in Pittsburgh, PA!
Frank Turner and the Sleepy Souls delivered an unforgettable performance The concert, part of the Undefeated Tour, showcased Turner’s distinctive blend of punk, folk, and rock, creating a powerful and immersive experience for the audience.
Not too long ago, I photographed the Dead South at the Masonic, in Cleveland, Ohio. In the world we live in today, everything feeds the algorithms that are intertwined with all of our internet searches, interests, and even our conversations…
As I was researching and preparing for my show and review for the Dead South, I was getting some new and interesting suggestions in my feed, and suggestions on YouTube, and all the rest of my social media feeds. One day, I saw the Bridge City Sinners pop up, repeatedly. I clicked on the link for link for their song: “Song of the Siren,” I was hooked immediately! Next, I saw the thumbnail for the song: “Heavy” and that thumbnail at the time was a fantastic pic of Libby Lux the vocalist of the band.
The band themselves are an amazing and eclectic gathering of musicians from a range of backgrounds that in most corners of the world would have never come together… but this group did, and it was the perfect conditions for the storm that is the Bridge City Sinners!
After a couple of weeks of these wonderful tunes saturating my brain, I wondered if they were or had had plans to tour. When I saw that they would be in my radius within the coming weeks, I immediately reached out to my editor and told him, and I quote: “DUDE! Bridge City Sinners, they are playing in Pittsburgh in a few weeks, I have to covert his show!”
I got the reply from the band within a few days, which is quite typical of such a request, and I was absolutely giddy that I would get to see and cover their show! I was posting all over my socials, and just ecstatic that this was happening!
A couple of days prior to the show, I wanted to see what the show times were, and verity my route from my house in Canton, OH to the venue outside of Pittsburgh. I knew the date, I knew the venue, but when I looked, there was nothing there for Bridge City Sinners on 5/28/2024! There was a show for Frank Turner and the Sleepy Souls.
I went through my request, my approval, and growing more confused I saw that there was a small button that said “more info” about the Frank Turner show. It was then that I saw the Bridge City Sinners were one of the openers.
I have never heard of any of the bands on this ticket 3x weeks prior, but now I was thrust face first into a genre I have little to no knowledge of, and or experience with. The opening band was interesting to say the least! There were a lot of people throughout the crowd who was enjoying the opening act from Columbus, Ohio. It was a duo of Vanessa Jean Speckman and Micha Schnabel.
Micha started off the set with some happy tunes on his guitar, and getting the crowd to interact with him and then Venessa came out and was nodding her head along with Micha’s playing and when she started singing, it was very different than what I am used to at a metal show! She was mixing singing with what I can only say reminded me of slam-poetry and such. Overall, it was quite entertaining! When I hung out with Micha and Venessa after their set, they were so much fun to chat with and so humble and thankful for the people that came to see them!
Next up in the 4x band line up was the reason I made the 90mi trek to Pittsburgh! The Bridge City Sinners came out and the crowd was ready for them! There were a few people I talked with prior to the show that had never heard of them, and when I saw them throughout the set, they went from “who is this” to “OMG! THIS IS GREAT!”
Check out a little interview with the band from a couple of years ago.
I admit, I have not been listening to them long at all… however, I can say that music is not only about how long you have listened to someone, but how their sound makes you feel. I feel like I have known them for years! Their music is just so much fun!
The sound and their aesthetic is so random and unique to each member, and to me that just added to the excitement!
Libby is so surprising to me, as a vocalist! She is sort of short, and petite, and yet the way she can belt out her vocals in such a way that her transitions from soft spoken to almost metal like guttural growls is something I have not been able to comprehend so far!
As far as how the Bridge City Sinners sound… This is purely my opinion as a guy who was born in the 70’s, grew up on music through the 80’s thru the present, and so the best I can say is that you take the 2000’s ne-metal, mix that with Punk-Pop, and a smidgen of Bluegrass and *BAM* you have this musical love child of the most interesting group I have seen to date!
I was fortunate enough to hang out with a few of the members after the show, and I cannot wait to see them again on their next time through Ohio in September, I want to say.
The third act to take the stage, again totally new to me was Amigo the Devil in direct support of Frank Turner. Amigo apparently has quite the following! While only a few seemed to have known about BCS, they looked at me with almost horrified disbelief that I had not heard of Amigo the Devil, and even more so about Frank Turner, the headliner.
Amigo the Devil took the stage, and it was nuts in that venue! He walked to the microphone, put on the strap to his guitar and the crowd was deafening! He has a very “folksy” sound, kind of reminded me of Kat Stevens back in the day, with a new twist! There was one song of his in particular that made me laugh at the show, and then remained in my head as an ear worm for days after… Hungover in Jonestown. The beat and the chorus to that was great, and to someone who has a dark sense of humor, this song is great! I have a good friend that I have known since high school, (I will call him Dan for the sake of privacy) who did an extensive report on Jonestown, and it shook him to his core. I told him about the song, and he said to me: “Nope! Too soon! Can’t do it, not gonna!” I have to say that Amigo and Dan had me laughing the entire time that ear worm was wigging in my head!
Finally it was time for Frank Turner to come out, and I thought that the place was crazy about Amigo… nope, they were able to turn it to 11!
From the moment the band took the stage, the went nuclear. Turner’s dynamic stage presence and heartfelt lyrics resonated deeply with the crowd, drawing them into every song. Highlights included “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” and “Be More Kind,” which had the entire venue singing along in unison
The screams from the crowd were roaring, and you could feel the energy from the adoring fans radiating throughout the venue, it was infectious!
I have never seen Frank, I have not heard him, and so I was trying to get pics of him and the Sleepy Souls, trying to do my best to capture the moment. It felt like a modern twist on 50’s pop. I do not know if that is accurate to say, again this is purely my opinion!
Frank Turner is from the U.K. and while I get that singing and speaking are from different parts of the brain, and so people with accents can sing perfect English while having a thick accent. I get the biology of it, but it still baffles me!
Hearing Frank talk, and then hearing him sing was night and day difference to me, and I loved all of it! He was energetic, moving from one side of the stage to the other. He did not stand still too often, and when he did it was not for long.
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