Frank Turner's Live Chops Remain 'Undefeated' at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom

At this point, you might as well inject all Riot Fest-related things directly into my veins. When I'm not covering one of the awesome shows that they put on in Chicago, I'm constantly seeing acts who I was first exposed to through attending over the last few years. The very first concert review I ever wrote was for Sincere Engineer, who I first saw at Riot Fest. Same with The Struts. And White Reaper. And Gogol Bordello. And Kennyhoopla. Etc etc etc. Short version is, I seem to be right in Riot Fest's target demo musically.

If you find yourself in the same boat of having Riot Fest be about 80% of your exposure to new music every year, chances are you were at the Aragon last Friday night. While it wasn't a RF show, the bill was packed with artists coming off recent Fest appearances. Headliner Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls played just last year. In support were fellow RF alum Amigo the Devil (2021) and Bridge City Sinners (2022) along with Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman rounding out the bill. An eclectic mix for sure, but one that promised to pull an extremely diverse Chicago crowd to the historic Aragon on the first weekend of the year to have actual Summer weather in the Windy City.

Ok, so this might be a little obscure, but I honestly can't think of any other way to approach describing what I saw from Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman to kick our evening off. Remember the musical Rent?

(Yes, it feels weird to ask "HEY DO YOU REMEMBER ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT MUSICALS EVER?", but there are people running around these days who can vote that weren't even alive when the movie version came out so...)

The performance of 'Over The Moon' from Rent is the first place my brain goes when I think about the performance given by Micah Schnabel and Vanessa Jean Speckman. Spoken word, almost stream of consciousness lyrics about everything from hot-button political issues to the struggles of just existing from day to day interspersed with sung/shouted choruses just as likely to end in pumping fists as it was kneeling and praying. Schnabel's delivery and knack for almost-too-clever wordplay proved to be an incredibly effective combination, where you had to pay absolute attention to his every word. If you looked away for even a second, you'd maybe miss a clever pun or devastating play on words. Mostly popping in to energize the choruses and lend a physical and musical punch where needed was Vanessa Jean Speckman, like a rage-filled Greek Chorus with the impeccable timing and a flair for emphasis that would impress the Beastie Boys. Together they took us through a glimpse into the struggles we face on a daily basis, trying to make sense of the world around us as we struggle on for another day. The performance was essentially protest songs, but seemed to grapple with the concept of protesting...life? Yet somehow it wasn't all doom and gloom, ending with more of a "let's be pissed off in a productive way" energy than a "let's give up and die" vibe, which considering the condition of the world surrounding us, would be more than excusable.

I'm still not exactly sure what it was that I saw, but I'll be goddamned if I didn't sit there and take in every second of it.

The Bridge City Sinners seem like a band Tim Burton would create if he grew up in the western mountains listening to nothing but Nick Cave records. Described as 'prohibition era jazz meets Appalachian death folk', the one thing I can say about BCS is that they are an absolute wild time. The combination of banjo, violin, and upright bass sounded sinister and compelling all at once, like something you would expect to hear in the New Orleans swamp part of Red Dead Redemption 2. And with songs of murder, revenge, and the Devil himself, you'll never have more fun with a side of impending doom. Like the darkest, stabbiest corner of your favorite dive bar.

When writing a review of a band, it seems like I should focus on their entire performance. That's just a given, right?

And yet, all I want to do is talk about 'Small Stone', the lead track off Amigo the Devil's 2021 album Born Against and the opener for their set at the Aragon. Already a sweeping and dramatic song to begin with, Chicago's ancient ballroom gave the song the room it needs to breathe and take on a massive life of its own. Somehow it felt like an entire set packed into a 3-minute song, demonstrating all the things that Amigo the Devil (Danny Kiranos) songs are known for: dark, introspective lyrics, soaring vocals, and a sweetness found in the middle of that darkness that creates the perfect contrast to keep drawing you in.

Poet laureate for the depraved and demented, Kiranos' music has been accurately described as 'murder folk' and a more apt description can never be found. Like the characters in a Bob Dylan song were brainwashed with equal parts The Hills Have Eyes and Deadwood, Amigo the Devil songs are full-on stories that are less about singing along and more about telling you about something fucked up. At times looking like he was as shocked and amazed at his own performance as we were, like he also didn't know if things were going to go off the rails at any minute.

Despite the dark and sometimes (let's be real, often) demented subject matter of his songs, Kiranos' always seems like he's having the time of his life, cracking jokes between songs and allowing himself a chuckle or two at some of his own clever lyrics. Never shying away from stepping into the shoes of God's Away on Business-mode Tom Waits, only Amigo the Devil could bring one of those flappy arm used car lot inflatable men onstage and have it somehow seem menacing as hell.

Frank Turner has two simple rules for his live shows. The first is "if you know the words, then you have to sing along". And while this happens to a certain extent at every concert (except for some weird Sunn O))) type stuff), Frank Turner concerts tend to have more people singing louder than most shows. He might want to credit it to the existence of rule #1, but I'd give more credit to the fact that Frank Turner writes some of the catchiest songs in the world. To call the choruses of his songs 'anthemic' seems like an understatement. They're the perfect sweet spot of catchy melody and chants you can pump your fist to. Adding more ammunition to the already overflowing stockpile of hooks is Turner's newest release Undefeated, his 10th album, released May 3rd. As Turner and the rest of the Sleeping Souls covered more than half of the new album throughout their set, only to find every word shouted back to them, it seemed like only having the album for a few weeks wasn't an obstacle for the capacity crowd in committing it to memory. Kicking off his set with back to back new songs in 'No Thank You for the Music' and 'Girl From the Record Shop', there were already the beginnings of mosh pits forming on both sides of the GA crowd from the outset.

The second rule for Frank Turner live shows? "Don't be a dick!" And while that seems like something that shouldn't need to be said in a public setting, it's always good to get it out of the way toward the beginning of a show just to weed out any dicks-by-association that wormed their way in. Although to be honest, it seems like Frank might be able to retire this rule at some point. The Venn diagram of 'people who are dicks' and 'people at a Frank Turner show' would be two circles on the other side of the planet. Based on Turner's overall vibe, his Liberal leaning social stances, and the themes in his music, it doesn't seem like a dick would bother showing up for one of his shows. They probably wouldn't have any fun. Dicks don't like to dance. Dicks aren't nice to people they bump into while dancing. Dicks don't listen to love songs about D.B. Cooper ('International Hide and Seek Champion') or dealing with self-doubt ('Haven't Been Doing So Well') or the march of time ('Undefeated', 'Photosynthesis'). Hell, '1933' was written specifically about the rise of right-wing dicks over the last decade, and if there's one thing dicks hate, it's being shown a mirror. There were nothing but smiles and good times had by all. Turner's music and attitude seems to automatically enforce this rule by default, yet another benefit to seeing him perform live.

It's easy for me to relate to a lot of the content in Frank Turner songs considering we're both the same age. We get to be outraged at the same things! But Turner's songs and the topics and themes they touch on - enduring, perseverance, righteous anger - aren't defined to a single age or generation. This was billed as an all-ages show, and the crowd that packed the Aragon lived up to the classification. When Turner tuned the microphone toward the audience on a chorus or two, he was greeted by voices not just of every age, but every background and style and haircut and shape and background. Some things transcend everything that separates us, and good fucking rock and roll music is absolutely one of them, something Turner and the Sleeping Souls dole out by the earful.

Both celebrating and trusting his safety to that boiling pot of an audience, Turner took the opportunity during the night's closer 'Four Simple Words' to crowdsurf across the massive wave of collective humanity he'd assembled with his music. It was the perfect climax to the musical journey we had all taken that evening, with Turner still singing as he was passed gingerly across the crowd on his way back to the stage. It was everything a Frank Turner show should be. It was fun. It was cathartic. It was loud.

It was rock and roll.

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls will continue the Undefeated Tour through the end of June.

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls Setlist - Aragon Ballroom, Chicago 5/31/24

No Thank You for the Music
Girl From the Record Shop
Get Better
If Ever I Stray
Try This at Home
The Next Storm
International Hide and Seek Champions
Haven't Been Doing So Well
Polaroid Picture
Ceasefire
Wessex Boy
The Fastest Way Back Home
The Lifeboat
The Ballad of Me and My Friends
Somewhere Inbetween
Punches
1933
Non Serviam
Do One
Never Mind the Back Problems
Photosynthesis
Recovery
I Still Believe
Four Simple Words