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Lost Evenings Festival - Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls - 12-15 May 2017
To misquote Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. Nowhere was this more apparent than at Lost Evenings, a four-day festival at the sold-out Roundhouse in London, organised by Frank Turner and OneFest.
Four days of workshops, music, aftershows, music, films, and more music. All centred around Frank Turner's idea of staging a multi-night take-over of North Camden. All centred, essentially, around Turner's music and the legion of die-hard fans he's amassed over the years. A dream come true for those fans, and an equally intense experience for the more casual listener.
The smorgasbord of talent included up-and-coming musicians on the smaller Nick Alexander Memorial Trust stage: The English Show particularly liked the contemplative folk-pop of Guise, the gorgeous vocals of Uri Sade, and the beguiling simplicity of Ben Marwood's songs.
On the main stage, some of the highlights were Deux Furieuses' raw power; Seth Lakeman's excellent, stirring Americana; the gravel-voiced, very funny Beans on Toast; the melodic tales of Scott Hutchison; the always witty Will Varley; and Skinny Lister's rousing folk punk.
But Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls were at the heart of this festival. The sheer stamina of these musicians was mindboggling - if watching four performances in a row was, in the best possible sense, formidable, one can only imagine how exhausting those performances must have been for Turner himself.
Every evening had a theme - Greatest Hits 1 & 2, Sleep Is For The Week 10th Anniversary performance, solo acoustic night - and every show highlighted Turner's songcraft and stage presence as well as the astoundingly large back catalogue that he was able to mine.
A daunting task, having to revive songs that hadn't been played live in years and having to memorise the lyrics to around 80 tracks. "Those second verses, man", Turner said on the first evening; remembering choruses is one thing, but trying to remember all the verses? Good luck.
The Roundhouse audience didn't need luck, however; the whole venue seemed to know every last lyric off by heart and wasn't shy about singing along, either. Who remembers the lyrics to a whole album, for crying out loud? Frank Turner fans, that's who. Not only that, but Turner was able to throw in the last-played-in-2008 Thatcher F****d The Kids as well as a Million Dead song and know that the crowd would enthusiastically shout along.
Over the course of the four evenings, the default setting was loud, energetic punk-rock, but acoustic versions of songs such as Rivers and the beautiful I Am Disappeared occasionally packed a bigger emotional wallop than the crowd pleasers. But, oh, what crowd pleasers! The Next Storm, I Still Believe, Recovery, Four Simple Words, The Ballad Of Me And My Friends, Get Better, If Ever I Stray - all blinding.
What stood out most was the festival's community spirit and the intense connection between artist and fans. It is a rare and thrilling thing indeed to experience that kind of sing-along enthusiasm at one concert, let alone four.
Lost Evenings was racuous, uplifting, exhaustive, exhilarating, annoying when surrounded by chatty Cathys and heartwarming when surrounded by true fans. When Turner crowdsurfed the whole Roundhouse on the last evening, touching every single column in the venue, it was nothing short of a victory lap. Kudos to him, The Sleeping Souls and everyone involved in making this singular festival happen. Hopefully it will be repeated next year.
- Anna Wirz
Listen to Frank Turner's interview with the English Show just before the festival.
