Last night, Chuck Ragan, The Interrupters, and Frank Turner played a high-energy SOLD OUT show at the Fillmore in downtown Minneapolis.
This show was a special one — a homecoming of sorts. This was my 12th time seeing Frank Turner, and it felt like I was getting together to hang out with 2,000 of my closest friends again.
This show sold out months in advance, so no surprise the floor of The Fillmore was packed just 30 minutes after the doors opened.
Opening the night was punk legend Chuck Ragan, known for his solo career and his work in Hot Water Music. Last night, Ragan was on stage armed only with his acoustic guitar and a percussionist sitting beside him. Ragan’s raspy whiskey voice almost makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He has a tremendous amount of power behind his voice, and often times didn’t even need the microphone to fully project to the room last night.
Midway through the set, Guitarist Kevin Bivona took a moment to apologize to the crowd for missing their last Minneapolis show due to illness, and said that their goal was to make it up to the fans by playing as hard as they could, and playing songs they have never played in Minnesota before. It’s safe to say they really did go above and beyond lighting up the room.
Overall, The Interrupters were one massive dance party. And after so many years of not seeing them live, I will be making it a priority to see them again the next time they come to town.
While I was attending the show with two other longtime Frank Turner veterans, one person in our crew was getting to see him for the very first time. My partner’s youngest brother who is now sixteen years old. For a little bit of context, I met him when he was six, just about to turn seven. As a kid, he could sing you just about any Frank Turner song word for word in the car. His mom now jokingly refuses to listen to Frank Turner in the car, because she’s heard him so much over the years.
It was an absolute blast to be able to share that first Frank Turner show with him. He made his way up to the rail, fist pumping, screaming every word, jumping up and down. We even took him into his first circle pit, which resulted in one of our friends losing a shoe. By the time the lights came up, our voices were gone and we were all covered in bruises and smiles. Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls lived up to expectations and did not disappoint.
It’s a special thing being able to share a deep love of music with the people in your life, along with the complete strangers standing in the crowd next to you. Music is therapy, it brings us together, and it keeps us alive. As someone who has seen Frank a dozen times now, it was priceless being able to watch last night’s show through the eyes of someone who had never witnessed one of his shows before.
I only wish the sets could have been longer and we could have kept dancing into the night for a few more hours.
