Frank Turner - Show 3000 at Ally Pally

If you're a fan of this man's music and have seen him live, you'll be very aware that he is someone who counts his shows ... Out loud! At each and every one of his shows, he will always announce what show number it is and then this will be logged on his website for future reference!

Every so often, a big show comes around. This time it was Show 3000!

This show sold out silly fast. Faster than even Frank and his team ever thought it would! I remember sitting with him last summer on the roof of The 1865 in Southampton discussing this show and him telling me how the team behind the show thought it might sell out just before the show.... Wrong! It sold out within a matter of days! A surprise perhaps to Frank and his team but not to anyone else!

Ally Pally is an incredibly special venue to a lot of musicians and Frank has always been open about how spending time growing up in North London and it being his spiritual home. So it came as no surprise that this was the venue of choice! Show 1000 and Show 2000 having been at a festival in Shoreditch and then Rock City respectively!

These shows always bring a level of excitement amongst Frank's fan base, as he is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of music! His Lost Evenings Festival is a tribute to this, with bands that he picks to perform with him that have since gone on to make waves in their own rights.

As someone who's been to a LOT of Frank Turner shows in various forms (Sleeping Souls, Solo etc!) over the years... This show was something special.

Not just the hype surrounding the show, the unbelievably stacked line up in the form of having The Meffs and The Lottery Winners in support ..  but as a show in general.

A cathartic experience, with songs spanning his back catalogue and fan favourites which are no longer heard very often. There were points at the show where everyone around me was feeling incredibly emotional for one reason or another. This show was utterly triumphant and will go down in the history books as one of his greatest live sets I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Here's to the next 1000 shows and to Lost Evenings Festival in Edinburgh later this year!