Frank Turner and the Sleep Souls in Harrisburg – May 9, 2023

Taking a break from his co-headlining tour with The Interrupters, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls played a solo show at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA with support from Kayleigh Goldsworthy and Chuck Ragan.

Kayleigh Goldsworthy

Opening the show was Kayleigh Goldsworthy, based out of Philadelphia. She spent most of her career as a musician backing up other artists, but started a solo career a few years ago and put out her second full-length album, Learning to Be Happy, almost exactly a year ago. Her beautiful vocals and almost pop-punk-ish style quickly won over the crowd, especially during songs like, “I Want to Know.” Her set finished with her performing “Little Ghost,” and “Jamie,” solo, and the crowd cheered for her well after the final note of her set.

Chuck Ragan

Next up was Chuck Ragan, a singer who almost effortlessly blends various genres such as bluegrass and punk. He opened the show with “Wish on the Moon,” a song that exemplifies his vocal range and ability to sing in a variety of different styles. His set included “State of Grace,” a song from his band, Hot Water Music, which the crowd definitely appreciated hearing. Several of his other songs showed his vocal range, including, “Right as Rain,” and “The Boat.” For the last two songs of his set he was joined by Kayleigh Goldsworthy on the violin, a special moment that the crowd enjoyed seeing. The crowd enjoyed his set and cheered him off stage, as they eagerly awaited Frank Turner’s set.

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls

Frank Turner is no stranger to touring – just last summer he became only the third artist ever (and first non-American) to play all 50 states in 50 days. Currently on a co-headlining tour with The Interrupters, he took a break from that tour to play a solo headlining show at the XL Live in Harrisburg. The former Million Dead frontman kicked off the show with “Punches,” a hard-hitting punk song that exemplifies the mood of his newest album, FTHC (Frank Turner Hardcore). His tapped into his large discography, opening the show with four songs off of four different albums.

With some bands, the fans may be preferential to older, nostalgic songs over an artist’s newer songs, but the crowd was just as excited to hear new stuff as well as older songs. He played some older crowd favorites, including “Plain Sailing Weather,” “If Ever I Stray,” and “Long Live the Queen.” His backing band left the stage for Frank to play a few acoustic songs, and he also told the crowd a story about how he had just gotten new tattoos on his fingers the other day before performing in Boston to lead into the aptly named, “Tattoos.” Frank enjoyed bantering with the crowd and his bandmates, joking that he had been trying to get his bassist Tarrant to smile all tour but he would only smile if the crowd made a circle pit, and the crowd obliged during his hardcore song, “Non Serviam.”

Their encore began with a touching moment, as Frank reflected on the five year anniversary of the passing of Frightened Rabbit founder Scott Hutchinson and performed the song he wrote in honor of him, “A Wave Across a Bay.” The rest of the encore consisted of older songs, including “Photosynthesis,” off his second solo album, and “I Still Believe,” which featured another circle pit and several crowd surfers making their way to the front of the crowd. He finished the show with “Four Simple Words,” another harder punk song that capped off the incredible night of music perfectly. His US tour continues in the Northeast for the next few weeks before finishing in Salt Lake City on May 23, and he begins a tour of Europe that spans from June-August.