Alive

I'm kind of shocked and surprised it's been as long as it has since I last posted anything here. To say I've been busy is an understatement. I've been keeping myself fully booked these last few weeks.

This is going to be brief because I'm tired and need to get to bed shortly. It's another busy day tomorrow, starting with the dentist and errands, chores around the house and then catching up with Ken, who has been away all week. It doesn't sound like it's all that much, but there won't be time to goof off, something I'm in dire need of.

So, last night I took myself out on a nice date. I'd have taken Ken, but as I said, he's away right now and he would have been miserable.  Last night I took myself out to see Frank Turner in concert.  I've missed him the last two times I was aware he was in the area. Coincidentally, both times I missed him, I found out the night he was playing that he was in town.  This time I was more proactive. 

The show was fucking amazing. AMAZING. I really didn't know what to expect since I'd never seen him before. Whatever I might have expected was probably far less than what he actually delivered. From the first note of "Photosynthesis" to the last note of "These Four Words" he had the entire crowd hooked. I can't remember the last show I was at where the electricity in the air was so heavy. 

The crowd also surprised me.  I was expecting a smaller crowd and a much older crowd. But the place was sold out and the majority of the crowd was young enough to be my children. I didn't know he had such a young following in a market this small. But after watching the show, I completely understand. Frank is a former punk rock singer reinvented into a folk singer. He channels so much of his punk roots in his performance while never letting you forget these are modern day folk songs. Folk and punk aren't really all that dissimilar styles of music when you boil them down to their basics. 

I love what he does during his encores. He starts them all off with an area song, meaning he picks an artist from the general area and covers one of their songs. At my show, I got a cover of "Career Moves" by Loudon Wainwright. I spent a bunch of time today on YouTube checking out other shows. He did REM when he was in Georgia and Bob Seger in Detroit. I love that idea. 

If you don't know Frank Turner, you're missing out. I'll post a couple videos after this. I'm typing on the iPad and haven't figured out how to add the video directly into the post yet. Because I'm pretty, dammit!

All in all, it was one of the best, if not THE best concert I've ever been to. He best come back soon.