While missing Social Distortion is always a disappointment, the trade off of seeing Frank Turner, at Ram’s Head, for free, took some of the sting out. Saturday’s previously sold-out show featuring punk veterans Social Distortion was abruptly changed to a free spotlight for the openers, England’s Frank Turner and Memphis-based Lucero, when Social D’s singer, Mike Ness, called in sick a few days beforehand.
Ram’s Head is rescheduling the show for later in the year, opting to honor the ticket from this show at that time and opened the club up to the public as Frank Turner and Lucero still chose to perform.
Many of the hardcore Social D fans decided to take a rain check, and the crowd that showed up was significantly lacking in sleeve tattoos and slicked-back pompadours, but they more than made up for it in enthusiasm during the performances.
Frank Turner took the stage first; previously the frontman for post-hardcore outfit Million Dead, his presence was electric from the moment he launched into the title track from his latest album, ‘Poetry of the Deed.’
While we were already fond fans of Turner’s folk-punk melodies and catchy, representative lyrics, this was clearly many viewers’ first taste, and Turner and the rest of his group played a particularly energetic set, with many humorous remarks and anecdotes thrown out by Turner between alternately toe-tapping and fist-pumping tunes.
The small group of devotees in the audience recognized Turner’s more popular tunes, including “Reasons Not To Be An Idiot,” which Turner introduced by claiming “This song is about a really terrible person I used to know [ . . . ] I decided to write a song about just how terrible she is.”
Another fan favorite was “Long Live The Queen,” an invigorating address to living life to the fullest and homage to Turner’s close friend who passed away.
Turner’s key forte is his accessibility to his audience. His songs are simple stories of everyday occurrences, described in poetic and ear-pleasing language.
Everyone can relate to the events described in his songs (except maybe the one where his grandma offered him whisky as a ten-year-old while playing chess), but he expresses the emotions and actions behind them better than any of us ever could.
He is also accessible as a performer: he and his group recognize that the audience is part of the performance, and maintains a strong connection with the crowd throughout the set.
Before beginning “Dan’s Song,” Turner brought a brave volunteer up on stage to play the harmonica solo.
“Are you sure you’ve never played the harmonica before?” he asked when they finished. “Cause that was the best f*****g solo I’ve heard so far.”
He also directed several call-and-response choruses with the crowd, on his two more politically-driven songs, “Sons of Liberty” and “I Still Believe,” the latter being a song off his upcoming EP Rock n’ Roll.
Turner closed with “Photosynthesis,” arguably his most well-known song and the perfect way to end the set, with the crowd instantly learning and repeating the hearty chorus of “I won’t sit down, and I won’t shut up, but most of all I will not grow up.” Turner and his boys left the stage to great applause and surprised approval from the more skeptical corners of the audience.
Unfortunately, most of Lucero’s set was missed, but the three songs witnessed were off of their latest release, 1372 Overton Park, and showcased their Springsteen and E Street influences. Those already familiar with the group’s music instantly pushed to the front and sang along to “Smoke,” the opening number off the album and of the set.
For those unacquainted with Lucero, the slower pace was a bit off-putting after Frank Turner’s animated show, but the audience connection was just as tangible with these musicians and the fanbase present gives one faith that, had fate not dragged us out of the show prematurely, Lucero would have been just as rewarding as Frank Turner.
In the end, a free concert is never a bad concert, and while it’s a shame to have missed Social Distortion, this was a unique chance for the opening bands to adequately present themselves to an ambivalent audience, and both Frank Turner and Lucero proved themselves worthy of headlining their own shows, hopefully in the near future.
