I’ve been home from Scotland for a few days now. Most of the time all I did was being lazy and reading the latest Inspector Lynley novel, which I finished late last night. I thought I might start my vacation recap(s) with the main reason I decided to go on vacation in Scotland: Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival VIII in Edinburgh last week. And before I delve a bit more into the wonderful gigs and experiences and my 4 minutes on that Lost Evenings stage, I’d like to share a few words on the fact that the festival will be held in Dallas, Texas next year.
I had and still have many of thoughts on that. Thoughts which stand in conflict with each other to some degree. Thoughts on Frank’s lengthy statement on why Dallas, Texas of all places and what I thought was lacking from it. Thoughts on how the online discourse about this decision was conducted, at least the bits and pieces I saw. At first I did not want say anything about it online. Last night after all I tried writing my thoughts down, but it turned into a convoluted and preachy piece and was rather passive aggressive towards some of who’ve been commenting about it. And I didn’t like that about myself, so that text was binned.
In short: I have sort of come around to the idea of it being held in Texas next year. I won’t be going, but I haven’t been to either of the ones held in North America so far and I most probably will never be attending one even if it was held in the most liberal city in Canada.
What helped me shift my – at first very critical – perspective about Dallas were comments left on one of the many Facebook posts about it. I don’t recall which post and I won’t wade back into the cesspit to find it. But these comments were a reminder that the idea of Lost Evenings had always been to bring this particular festival and all it entails – panels, open mic, fundraising, community, making friends, hearing 84 different Frank songs in a row – to as many people in as many different regions as possible. The fact that a (small) subsection of the larger fan community is willing (and able !!) to travel from all over the world or even just from one coast to the other and by doing that year after year have quickly created a “global / international LE community” is a wonderful side-effect. But possibly – I’m having a wild guess here – that might not have been Frank’s main intention with this travelling festival concept. Again referring to the comments I mentioned above: If gathering the same global community year after year had been the main purpose, he could have just started doing “Frank Turner Festival Cruises”. Which also makes people travel from all over the world to gather in one location – a cruise ship – to experience 4 days of live music and community and all that. That furthermore is an already well established concept and probably much easier to pull off than organizing a festival in a different place each year. As someone who works in the climate action field I object to the festival cruise concept with a passion and I’m very glad Lost Evenings doesn’t fall in that category, but that’s just me.
So, maybe let’s all take a step back and think for a moment about why Frank wants to do the festival in a different location each year. And consider that it might not (always) be about gathering the same global fan community in a (different) room somewhere each year?
I have more thoughts on all of it, but this was the one I felt was missing in most of the online discourse I’ve seen.
Stepping off the soapbox now.
Lost Evenings in Edinburgh! Plus one of the warm-up shows in Aberdeen. I had a great time all in all. Due to the festival venue being a bit outside the city and our accommodation being on the other side of the city, I didn’t really partake in any of the usual festival community stuff like I used to at previous festivals. I had consider going to the “Writing Panel” on day 2, but I knew the room would be small and getting in would have meant coming to the venue and start queuing before 11 probably. Which meant that I would have to leave “home” before 10. By the end of night 1 I knew that I would be too exhausted to make myself to do that. I admit I wasn’t too keen on many of the support bands or the acts on the NA stage, so most of the nights we didn’t make it to the venue until 7 or 7.30. After Doors anyway. So I didn’t have all that much of the festival community experience this time and hadn’t said Hi to as many people I knew from previous gigs. Next time in 2027, right? But also there was more to do and see in Edinburgh. Some of which will be shared – via photos at least – in a different post later.
By the end of night 1 my friend and I ran into Bryan from Koo Koo. My friend has known them for years and because Bryan is such a nice guy and because we know no-one really gets embarrassed or shamed during the silly games on stage, we let him talk us into being part of it on the last night. For the next three days I was surprisingly chill about the prospect of stepping on stage in front of 3.000 people and doing a silly “air bagpipe competition”. Yes, we had been told in advance so we spent that Sunday morning browsing some of the tackier souvenir shops on the Royal Mile for cheap accessoires. I still wasn’t too nervous when we were brought backstage and given last instructions plus a few sips of Buckfast to fortify us. I think by then it might have been the adrenaline that kept my nerves calm. Adrenaline because I was about to make a fool of myself by pretending to play bagpipes in a silly Scottish costume in front of 3.000 people. Potentially also being witnessed by Frank & the Sleeping Souls in the wings. And I didn’t really care.
From the first three nights and previous festivals where I saw Koo Koo do similar stuff, I knew that the crowd would be kind and the reaction would be positive. At Lost Evenings we are a community of like minded people after all. So I wasn’t really scared if I looked stupid. I mean, I KNEW I looked stupid, but I also knew no-one down in the crowd would care. It was fun! It was also over before I knew it and in less than 4 minutes we were shepherded back from the stage, while Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls entered the stage from the other side. How absolutely surreal! We took a quick photo with Koo Koo backstage and when we were led back to the space where we left our things I had last glimpse of Callum and then “Eulogy” started. An absolute crazy experience.
I am so glad I stepped out of my comfortzone and allowed myself too look silly in front of 3.000 (very friendly) people. I mean, how many people can say they have stood on and have gotten a round of applause on a Lost Evenings stage?
I stopped doing gig recaps years ago, so I won’t be starting with that again, but here is a tiny recap and some memories from the five shows I’ve seen while I was in Scotland. I went up to Aberdeen for the first warm-up show on Sunday 21st. The main reason for that was that it was my show #75 and I wanted that to happen at a smaller, more memorable place than the first night of Lost Evenings. It’s nerdy and silly, I know, but what can I say. I also had a chance to briefly chat to Frank after that gig, which is always nice and I admit I had hoped for that being possible after the smaller gigs.
That warm-up show was about half of the setlist of night 1 – Back in the Day. I admit I had expected a few more proper vintage rarities and B-sides that night and all, but it was still a amazing start to the festival. Frank wore a kilt!
Night 2 – Acoustic Duo will be stored in my memory for a loooooong looooong time. Afterwards I said, that it might have been my favourite Frank Turner show so far, 12 years and 77 shows in. And I stand by that! Not necessarily because it was the perfect setlist, as there are always a few songs I don’t care for as much as I do care about others. But even the songs that weren’t among my favourites I liked fine. The magic of that night was that the whole room knew and sang along to all the words to all the good old classics. The songs about community and friendship and resilience. The old anthems about keep fighting the good fight (Thatcher Fucked the Kids, Love, Ire & Song…) There also were most of my favourite songs from No Man’s Land (Jinny Bingham, William Blake…). Not all that many people knew all the words as well as I did, but that didn’t stop me from singing along from the top of my lungs. I usually can only do that in my car. What a perfect, perfect night!
Night 3 – Positive Songs For Negative People and songs from that era. It was great show as well, because the album has a few great singalong songs and it comes with a lot of memories. That album tour was the first proper one after I had discovered Frank in late 2013 and thus holds a special set of memories.
Night 4 – Bagpipes (see above) and a Greatest Hits Set and also some of the new album stuff, which all in all always makes for a great night.
All in all a great weekend and the memory of night 2 will definitely help me through potentially darker times for a while. Thanks for that Frank Turner.
