Frank Turner performed his biggest Manchester headline show to date on Saturday night, entertaining a sold-out crowd at the 02 Apollo.
The evening started off well, with Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo perfoming well despite a slightly disrespectful crowd who were slightly distracted, with the exception of a guest appearance from Turner himself.
Punk stars Against Me! powered through a high-energy set that covered their back catalogue, from the likes of 'Sink, Florida, Sink' and 'Pints of Guinness Will Make You Strong' to 'White Crosses' and 'Thrash Unreal'.
As Turner took to the stage, opening with 'Eulogy', the atmosphere was already building and suggesting something special, and over the next hour and a half one thing became quite clear - Frank Turner, it seems, has made it.
As admirable as it is, selling out this venue (which has recently housed the likes of Bruno Mars and Alice Cooper) is one thing, but filling it and putting on an engaging show is another.
The size of this tour, and the announcement of a headline show at Wembley Arena in April 2012, raised a few fears from fans of Turner who wondered whether he could keep up the intimacy his shows have had at their heart for so long.
Obviously, things have changed - the last time Frank played a show in Manchester, it was at the 150-cap Night & Day Cafe.
That said, it was admirable that his show found a nice balance between the intimacy people expect, and the production a gig of this size needs.
Songs like 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous' and 'One Foot Before The Other' deserve to be highlighted for their lighting, in both cases perfectly complementing the tone and sound of the tracks.
Although the setlist leaned heavily towards Frank's newest record England Keep My Bones (taking 9 songs from that album), moments like an acoustic version of 'Father's Day' kept Turner's roots present and important throughout the show.
As a performer, his between-song patter we kept up despite the size of the arena, and the actual performance was fitting of a stage this size.
Finishing the main set with a superb cover of Queen's 'Somebody To Love', the backdrop fell to reveal a huge banner bearing Turner's name and FTHC logo, a triuphant moment for both the artist and the people who've been following his career.
After a beautiful singalong of 'The Ballad of Me and My Friends', the Sleeping Souls rejoined Frank for an exceptional finale as 'Photosynthesis' was given the confetti treatment, marking Turner's arrival to the big leagues.
If there were ever any doubts, ahead of the Wembley show nex year, that Frank Turner could (musically) fill such a venue, this Manchester show suggested he should have no problem at all.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge (Follow me on Twitter @AlistairMcG)
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