Frank Turner Promises a One-of-a-Kind Atlantic City Show Friday Night

The British singer-songwriter tells WOND the Caesars concert will feature a completely different setlist, rarely played songs and plenty of storytelling

ATLANTIC CITY — Frank Turner has played more than 3,000 concerts around the world. He says the one he'll play in Atlantic City Friday night won't be repeated.

Turner and his longtime band, The Sleeping Souls, will take the stage Friday, Sept. 18, at Caesars Atlantic City as part of a short run of U.S. shows leading into Turner's Lost Evenings festival.

And for fans who have seen Turner before, he says that doesn't mean they know what's coming.

“We've done two shows on this tour so far already, and we've played completely different setlists at both of them, and we're going to do the same again tomorrow night,” Turner said Thursday during an interview with guest host Joe Molineaux on Off The Press with Scott Cronick on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.

Turner said he and the band have prepared a massive catalog of material for the run.

“I think we've got 82 different songs this year,” Turner said. “Every night we've been dropping songs we haven't played in years and years and years.”

‘It's Going to Be a Unique Show’

Turner isn't promising obscurity for obscurity's sake.

He said familiar favorites will still be there. During the interview, Turner correctly guessed that “Photosynthesis,” “I Still Believe” and “Recovery” rank among his most frequently performed songs — and later confirmed fans can expect those songs Friday.

“We'll play the hits,” Turner said. “We'll play the three that I mentioned just then. For sure, they're in the set. But there's also, there's going to be some wild stuff in there as well.”

“Some stuff we haven't played in a long time,” he added. “So it's going to be a unique show.”

Constantly changing the setlist also changes Turner's interaction with the audience.

Unlike a conventional tour where the basic structure may remain similar from city to city, Turner said these shows keep even the band guessing.

“We haven't ever done this setlist before,” he said. “I get more into kind of storytelling mode. I'll be sort of chatting away about some songs, telling some stories about the songs, vibing with the crowd on that level.”

The first two shows of the run, he said, were “completely kind of unique and different.”

“And tomorrow will be the same thing again.”

From Atlantic City Opening Act to Headliner

Friday also represents something of a full-circle return to Atlantic City.

Turner played the former House of Blues at Showboat on March 9, 2012, opening for Dropkick Murphys.

Molineaux was in the audience that night and recalled during Thursday's interview that it was his introduction to Turner and his music.

Turner said tours like that one helped shape the way he approaches his own concerts today.

“I made my bones opening for other people, and I feel like it's my duty to pay that forward and take out bands that I like and believe in,” Turner said.

He recalled the Dropkick Murphys tour fondly.

“That tour was just great favors,” Turner said. “We played in Boston on St. Patrick's Day with Dropkick Murphys. I mean, that's about as cool as it gets.”

“That's the reason why I pick the supports of my tours,” he added, “because people did that for me back in the day.”

For Friday's Atlantic City show, Turner selected Black Guy Fawkes and Emily Wolfe as the opening acts.

Turner described Black Guy Fawkes, who is from Delaware, as a friend who “has got to be seen to be believed.”

“He's awesome,” Turner said.

Turner was equally enthusiastic about Wolfe.

“I love her records,” he said. “I'd never seen her play live until the night before last, and then she absolutely blew my socks off. She's very, very, very good.”

“So it's a whole evening of entertainment and a bunch of stories.”

More Than 3,000 Shows — and Still Changing Them

Friday night's concert will be Turner's 3,174th show, according to the count he gave during Thursday's interview.

That career has taken him from small clubs to major festivals and some of the world's biggest stages.

In 2012, Turner performed during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics after director Danny Boyle personally asked him to participate.

Turner recalled initially assuming Boyle couldn't possibly be calling about the Olympics.

“We kind of looked at each other, my manager and I, and said, ‘Well, it's definitely not the opening ceremony because that would be crazy,’” Turner said.

It was.

Boyle told Turner he wanted him involved and offered him time to think about it.

“I said, ‘I don't really need to take time about this. How many times in a life do you get asked to do something like that?’” Turner recalled. “So I said yes.”

Fourteen years later, Turner says the basic job doesn't change much whether he's performing for a massive crowd or in a more intimate room like the one he'll encounter at Caesars.

“My job is to play well and try and connect with the audience,” Turner said. “And that's what I'll do in both situations.”

In fact, he said, a smaller venue can make that connection easier.

“There's fewer people to connect with,” Turner said. “Ultimately, you know, I put my head down and I do my thing.”

‘Songs Constantly Change and Evolve’

That philosophy extends to songs Turner has performed hundreds — and in some cases more than a thousand — times.

He rejects the idea that a live performance should simply reproduce the studio recording.

“Every single time I play a song, it shifts a bit,” Turner said. “It changes, it evolves, it grows, it breathes.”

“I think songs should do that,” he continued. “I think that if you go and see a band and the version that they play is just a carbon copy of what you can listen to on a CD or Spotify or vinyl or whatever, it's kind of like, what's the point?”

Turner said his relationship with older songs has naturally changed because he has changed.

“I'm not the same person I was in 2007, and it would be weird if I was,” he said.

To Turner, a well-written song can continue changing in meaning both for its creator and the people listening to it.

“It just means that the show is an organic thing and it's an exchange of energy between the audience and the performer,” Turner said. “It's not just me standing up and churning out a copy of what I did 18 years ago.”

‘A Punk Rock Night’ — But Not Just Punk Rock

Asked to make the case for why someone unfamiliar with him should come to Friday's show, Turner initially resisted overselling himself.

“I've had some practice at playing live — 3,173, to be precise,” Turner said. “And I don't want to get too far into blowing my own trumpet, but I think me and my band, The Sleeping Souls, are pretty good at what we do.”

What he wants most, Turner said, is for the concert to feel inclusive.

“I want the shows to be welcoming. I want them to be fun. I want them to be community events,” he said. “And I want them to be participation events.”

Audience involvement, Turner said, is a central part of his performances.

“It's a punk rock night, but it's also a folk night and it's also a storytelling night,” Turner said. “It's a whole bunch of different stuff.”

And New Jersey, he said, has traditionally treated him well.

“I think we always have good shows in Jersey,” Turner said. “I think people have a good time if they come out. And I'd like to think I know how to entertain the crowd.”

“So people will be entertained.”

Turner and The Sleeping Souls perform Friday, Sept. 18, at Caesars Atlantic City. Doors open at 7 p.m., according to information discussed during the interview. Black Guy Fawkes and Emily Wolfe are scheduled to open.

Frank Turner appeared on Off The Press with Scott Cronick, with Joe Molineaux filling in as guest host. The program airs weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.