I've only known about this guy for about a week but I'm so in love
OK we'll do this. The concert was at the Sound Academy in Toronto which is in the middle of nowhere but it does provide a nice view of the city over the lake. I was front row, surprisingly. So that's that.
Openers:
Billy The Kid
This is a the name of a Canadian singer/songwriter. She had a really cool voice and great lyrics, plus a really sick guitar case that had looked like a pirate's map. She started off her set acapella which, what? Who does that and can pull it off? Apparently Billy The Kid can. Anyway, I really liked her and she was very giggly and she played by herself, a guitar and a one-off harmonica bit somewhere in there. All in all, good performance.
July Talk
This band was not my type of thing, but they were entertaining to say the least. The members were whacked out playing with their clothes and jewellery and messing with the security guards so I was more laughing than paying attention to the music. In the slight moment that nothing crazy was happening on stage, I liked what I heard. They were a lot more heavy than the preview opener but some people seemed to love it.
Frank Turner
Let me just say that this show was amazing. He came out wearing some very sensible footwear, so I knew we were in for an energetic show. He sounded great live and he played almost all of my favourite songs (if you're looking for the setlist, keep looking) so I was pleased. He did a little speech about how we're all equals, the barricade is just imaginary, we should all dance, you know. There was a few mandolins on stage, and though he explained that he wasn't supposed to play guitar to prevent hurting his back further, for the encore he did play one son with it, a cover. I am at a loss for words right now, I had such a great time. The whole set was energetic and it sounded so good, the crowd wasn't huge and it was a very eclectic group but everyone was loving it. The tour is almost over so if you live in NA you probably missed out, but I think he's the type of act that is pretty well always touring, so I'd catch a show if you can.