I remember shaking hands with Frank Turner as he moved through the crowd in the Camden Underworld back in September 2005. I was congratulating him on Million Dead’s impressive performance on their Farewell Tour. I couldn’t understand why a band with so much promise and ability were splitting up; the acrimony that had built up between them is all out in the open now, of course, but I wasn’t that huge a fan at the time, so wasn’t as aware and assumed it was just a “business” decision.
Whilst all the band members have stayed involved in music post-Million Dead, it is Frank’s punky, folk-leaning solo work that I am most familiar with (Sleep Is For The Week, Love Ire & Song, and England Keep My Bones et al.). Anyhoo, there were two support bands to enjoy tonight, so let’s concentrate on those first.
Post-rock mavericks The St. Pierre Snake Invasion kicked things off with a weird but wonderful collection of songs that seemed to entertain and befuddle the audience in equal measure. The opening track set the scene with its off-kilter hardcore sound, interspersed with Hawkwind-infused electronic whooshes and guitar solos crammed full of post-punk dissonance (I assume that was deliberate and not a tuning issue?). Whilst the set was punctuated by a healthy number of breakdowns, the Bristol-based five-piece were at their best when allowing themselves to just go with the flow. Things became a lot more entertaining when they really clicked into their groove, from my point of view.
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I had not heard of The Meffs before seeing their name on the support list earlier in the week. However, a quick check of the music they have available online resulted in me buying everything I could lay my hands on (and yes, I have now “got the T-shirt” too). Google tells me that “meff” refers to a slang term for “a tramp or worthless person,” but that is a complete misnomer, I assure you.
The band are Lily Hopkins (guitars and vocals), Lewis Copsey (drums and backing vocals) and… err… well, that’s it! Being a fan of Winnebago Deal and The White Stripes, it still amazes me how just two people can make such good, powerful music when most bands have at least twice as many members. The Essex duo cite The Clash, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Motörhead among their influences, and these are useful pointers for their old-school but still fresh-sounding punk stylings.
Hitting us with “Deathwish” straight off the bat, Lily’s socio-political yet simple lyrics never failed to hit the mark. From calling out online hate to the herd mentality of right-wing bigots and government incompetence, most things are covered. “Stamp It Out” and “Broken Britain, Broken Brains” were particular high points of their performance, and they threw us a very satisfying curveball three songs in with an inspired (and obviously very different) cover of “Breathe” by The Prodigy. Nice. The set was over far too quickly for my liking, but they rounded things off with the band’s favourite track, “Clowns”. This incredibly catchy, riff-driven song drew some satisfying guitar-hero grimacing from Lily to boot. Definitely ones to watch out for in terms of future tour dates.
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Sadly, ones to not watch out for in the future are post-hardcore band Million Dead, as frontman Frank Turner repeatedly reminded us throughout tonight’s set. Their main incarnation was from 2000 to 2005 and then, BANG! They split up after a farewell tour (of which the aforementioned Underworld gig was the penultimate date). The band obviously want to make it very clear that this tour is very much a final goodbye and not a teasing “will they or won’t they get back together for a new album” teaser.
Regardless, we got the full package tonight, with all previous members being present and correct: Frank Turner (vocals), Ben Dawson (drums), Cameron Dean and Tom Fowler (guitars), and Julia Ruzicka (bass), all firing on all cylinders. The band headed straight into the classics with opener “Breaking The Back,” reminding those assembled of the reason why this tour was always destined to be a rousing success, with its fuzzy heavy guitars and shouty but catchy vocal refrains. Frank’s voice is sounding stronger than it did twenty years ago, which gives an extra heft to the power of tonight’s songs.
Million Dead were always more than just a one-trick pony, and the anarcho-punk lyrical attitude of “Charlie and the Propaganda Myth Machine” still hits hard. They drew on both of their albums in equal measure for this set: the upbeat “After The Rush Hour,” “Bread and Circuses,” and “MacGuyver” being tempered by more laidback tracks like “A Song To Ruin”. The band seemed to enjoy some banter tonight and the hatchets did appear (to this onlooker at least) to have been well and truly buried.
They were clearly enjoying the reaction they were getting from what must have been a sold-out crowd, and the heartfelt singalong to “To Whom It May Concern” was solid proof of the impact their music had on many people all those years ago. The love is still there. There was a point during that song where time seemed to stop and crystallise into a perfect moment, where everyone seemed to be singing and we were all able to celebrate what once was and what is again, albeit momentarily. Anyone else got a lump in their throat? No, not me mate, I’ve just got something in my eye is all…
Photos by Steve Dulson
