 Successfully avoided the queues tonight, got in
no such trouble, in fact tonight was relatively
stress free apart from the bastard red light for
the first two bands, it was an alright night for
all involved.
Crazy arm are the first band on tonight, a rock
band from these shores of ours! They have a solid
heavy rock sound, but there’s nothing to
exciting about it, its bouncy it rocks, it rolls
but for some reason it doesn't even carry the
front row, the crowd is as dead as a doornail,
they applaud at the right times, but there reaction
to the music is stonewall! The band put on a good
show, bouncing around the stage, the band seem
really tight as a unit, but the songs while competent,
there’s nothing to memorable about them,
they’re good songs but there’s not
a stand out among them, there seemed to be no
killer track to get the crowd really engaged,
overall they just seemed to find a crowd that
just aren't interested in anything that isn't
Frank Turner and that's a damn shame!
Main support was Chuck Ragan, a folk music band
lead by the man of the same name. Now I’m
not adverse to some folk music, and this tonight
wasn't half bad, I like the fiddle playing and
the double bass player was a nice addition, but
I really couldn't hear them too well although
there sound shone through at times when it mattered
and the fiddle player had an awesome hobo beard!
Chuck Ragans guitar playing simple but good and
the vocal performance wasn’t half bad, it
seems to be a lesser version of Frank Turner with
his full band, I don’t mean than in a bad
way either!, it’s a good complimenting band
to FT. The crowd seemed a bit more responsive
but not that much so you'd really notice. There
songs not really that complex but it’s a
good mix of instruments that makes a good full
sound, catchy at times and the band looked like
they were having fun, I enjoyed it, it’s
a shame the crowd sucked!
 I wasn't sure what to expect tonight as I'm not
familiar with Frank Turner, I've heard his name
kicked about from time to time, but never really
paid that much attention, but with him playing
in the academy he must be a fairly big deal! He’s
got his full band out on display tonight; finally
the crowd come to life making the most noise all
evening! The band create a, at times layered sound,
but overall is pretty simple in its nature, its
mainly his acoustic guitar and his vocal driven
music, which makes me wonder, what’s the
point in having a backing band! A lucky fan (lizzy)
gets to go on stage for Isabel I do believe to
play his harmonica, once in a life time and it
don’t sound too bad either! I quite enjoyed
Dan’s song, simple acoustic song, I like
it! I think I’d have preferred just him
on his own, not quite Bob Dylan, but still a really
good musician, his songs can reach people on many
a level, as there’s something in his lyrics
for everyone to relate to, his voice is pretty
decent bit rough but good power behind it. I'm
sure there the fan favourites were out on display
tonight as the crowd was singing along to everything
tonight. They enjoyed the night as I'm sure Frank
did as I'm sure it was one of them nights when
everything came together as it was supposed to.
Crazy Arm 3/5
Chuck Ragan 4/5
Frank Turner 5/5
Review By Robert Lawrence
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