Gig review: Frank Turner at Boom, Leeds

“I’m in the middle of a mid-life crisis,” Frank Turner confesses with a grin. Under the small stage lights, perched atop the stage at the cramped Boom, a staple of the Leeds hardcore scene, his hair is already plastered to his forehead before he has played a song.

A few hundred lucky fans whoop and cheer in response, to which his expression blossoms into a full smile. “This is the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

The idea is a world record, and the former Million Dead frontman is three shows into his bid for immortality. The plan is to play as many shows as possible within 24 hours, with 15 on the itinerary; by the time this review runs, the singer-songwriter will have completed his bid, ticking off 15 different towns and cities across the United Kingdom. “The people of Hampshire are going to have a s*** deal,” he quips.

Having dashed across in a custom-tooled black-cab taxi from Huddersfield’s Parish for this show, Turner is aware that only the die-hards will have snapped up a ticket at short notice. As such, his brief set – no gig will play for more than a half-hour as he races across the country – leans heavily on new record Undefeated, the follow-up to his maiden number-one album FTHC, released in 2022.

At barely a day old, the LP nevertheless appears already in heavy rotation; songs such as No Thank You for the Music and Never Mind the Back Problems are attacked with punk intensity despite their solo acoustic renditions. But it is the more lovelorn cuts he spins – Letters, about a former penpal who helped shape his musical tastes – that offer a keen reminder of his skill as one of the nation’s most underappreciated balladeers too.

Even with the whip-crack pace, Turner is effusively chatty, dropping anecdotes about his first show in Leeds from a quarter-century ago, and how he likes to remind Ed Harcourt about his embarrassing musical history.

He ends it with a pair of oldies – classic favourites Photosynthesis and Get Better, both met with beefy singalongs – before imploring his audience to catch more unknown shows.

“Go see a band you’ve never heard of!” he cries, before he peels off Do One and races away to the next step. His call will likely be heard.