Live Review: Frank Turner Manning Bar

fine opening set got to see her appear again twice, with The Smith Street Band and again with Frank Turner.

The Smith Street Band kicked into I Ain't Safe with customary sloppiness (though this isn't usually a bad thing, translating as enthusiasm and rawness) but their energy seemed lacking. Frontman Wil Wagner – a remarkable songwriter and captivating performer – was as unsettled as ever. It's just either due to them being ragged from the last few days of touring and partying, or their act being better suited to small rooms, but they weren't really at their best. The set's peak moment came when Buxton joined Wagner for The Belly Of Your Bedroom.

The mesmerising William Elliott Whitmore opened with Burn My Body and seemed to draw in just about everyone with call and response sections perfect if you wanted to sing along but had never heard the songs before. Whitmore's use of an impossibly big voice, everyman yarns about run-ins with the cops between songs, banjo, bass drum, guitar (and no backing band) manage to create more interest than a band of ten men might and songs like Don't Need It and Let's Do Something Impossible are hard not to get swept up in.

Eulogy and Try This At Home might be the perfect one-two opening – Frank Turner has arrived, passionately tells you this is what he does, then reminds you you're part of it too. Of course, singalongs are a massive element to the show. This gig was the antidote for every performance you've seen of a band that doesn't care about an audience, playing their songs like they're sick of them and blindly going through the motions. The current album featured heavily, naturally, though signature songs like I Knew Prufrock… and The Real Damage were all included.

A rousing cover of Queen's Somebody To Love was an event in itself. An encore featured another cover, Ryan Adams' Oh My Sweet Carolina, while the roof was torn off once more for Photosynthesis.

Turner and co. put on a tremendous show to a packed Manning Bar. You get the feeling the next album they tour out here will be to much bigger venues.