England Keep My Bones

On Monday I packed up my teal coat and, with Pel in tow, went on a surprise adventure to Camden. Turns out I was one of the few very lucky winners of the HMV competition to see Frank Turner play the Barfly on the day of his album launch. This was a huge shock. I had actually forgotten I had pre-ordered England Keep My Bones off of HMV, as I had also ordered it from Amazon. I’m really grateful to HMV for giving us a chance to see Frank in such a tiny venue. I was well chuffed seeing him at the Slade Rooms a few weeks ago, thinking that the chance to see such an intimate gig again would be infinitesimal once the album came out, as it is obvious that Frank is now so in demand he will be playing ever bigger crowds from now on. Seeing him in the Barfly was incredible.

Much to my delight it also meant another chance to see the lovely Ben Marwood. His mini set was amazing, and it was wonderful to hear the crowd singing quite a few of his songs. Obviously Pel & I were not the only ones that were impressed by his stuff during the earlier tour. He himself said it was “one of the best gigs I’ve ever played ever". His closing performance of “Singalong” got the crowd singing just as loudly as they did for Frank’s music; evidently Ben now has quite a few new fans. I am quite proud that my tone deaf participation was a part of that. To top it off Ben actually remembered us and I got my Molotov’s Magic Lantern book signed.

Frank was obviously absolutely knackered having flown in for the day from Germany. But ever the trouper – or troubadour as that is what every internet article is currently calling him- he soldiered on. Mixing in the brand new stuff in with the old, his set went down a storm. I couldn’t tell if he was surprised that all of us already knew all the words to If Ever I Stray, but that song was definitely a highlight. Also there was a rare moment of silence during the gig. Frank had asked us not to join in with the English Curse, but the crowd remained equally still when he played Redemption, taking in the beautiful lyricism of the song. I'm still totally blown away that he put such a personal song on the album.

Another stunning night of music from two of my favourite singers – oh and we got cake. The whole gig was streamed over the internet which can still be watched here it is well worth checking out. It was all topped off with another beautiful rendition of District Sleeps Alone Tonight, in which Frank finally learnt the correct words to sing. I will never tire of hearing that song. And I promise this will be the last Frank post as the tour is over. Well that is until November when he is back touring again (does the man ever stop?)

On a side note, Ben you almost gave me a heart attack yesterday. He put up a link to this blog from his own, and I found this out whilst on the train home. What was a joke between 4 of my friends about how much of his back catalogue of music I had listened to, has now been read by over 200 people. I apologise to the other train passengers for my muffled scream of embarrassment. It’s wonderful that so many of you actually bothered to read what I had to say, I just wish that I hadn’t mentioned the word stalking.