Frank Turner – Dave Hause – at Hotel Cafe – Los Angeles, CA

This past Thursday I found myself fighting (and cursing) Orange County traffic to head to The Hotel Café to check out the sold-out Frank Turner shows. Yes, I said shows; Turner played two sets, one at 7 and again at 10, with Dave Hause opening for each. Typically, LA crowds show up to concerts after the opening act has gone on, but Turner fans know better - it's best to get there early to find a spot close to the stage and he always chooses fabulous acts to open for him.Dave Hause did not disappoint.

Dave Hause, front man of the Philadelphia based band The Loved Ones, is taking a shot at doing some solo work. Mitchell Townsend joined him last night on guitar, lap steel and mandolin - yes, mandolin. He opened his set with the title track off of his first full-length album, Resolutions, and as soon as he finished the first verse I knew I was in for a treat. I have no idea how many of the people at the show knew of Hause's solo work before last night (I didn't), but they were fans by the end of his show. He broke out Jane from his Loved Ones days and the crowd went wild. The Hotel Café is an intimate venue, which makes it perfect for artists to interact with their fans, and during both of his sets Hause went between witty banter, situational jokes ("Listen! Whale Sex!" - those who were there will get this reference) and shaming the person in the front who was texting and eating during his set.

Hause was engaging, telling stories of how certain songs came to be. Before he played Prague, he laughingly told the audience that it was written after being on mushrooms for four days while in Amsterdam, "which is never a good idea when you're in your 30's".  As soon as he finished the song, he immediately started playing Trusty Chords, covering one of Hot Water Music's best songs. Hause is an artist that I would see as a head-liner. If you have a chance to check him out, I highly recommend it. His album, Resolutions, is available now.

While I enjoyed Dave Hause, the real reason I was at the show was for Frank Turner. C'mon - it's Frank fuckin' Turner! Before he was even fully on stage, the crowd went ape-shit, screaming, shouting, crying out "Frank! FRANK!" And the energy level just increased after that. He opened his set with I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous, and everyone in the audience sang along, word for word. He followed that up with Try This At Home, and we all kept singing along. During the first show, Turner broke a two guitar strings; during the second I think it was three or four. He borrowed Hause's guitar and told the crowd, "Well, my carefully sculpted set list has gone to shit. What song should I play next?" The audience responded with Rod Stewart, the song that is officially untitled as of yet, but has been dubbed by fans as A Ballad to Rod Stewart.

If you've never had the joy of seeing Turner play live, try and catch one of his shows (but tickets early, as he sells-out everywhere he goes). He interacts with the concert goers, both during and after his shows, and can be serious, funny, intelligent all in one comment.  Later in the set, he told the story of how he used to invite people on stage to play the harmonica, but because of germs (and the fact that he has since lost the harmonica) he doesn't do that anymore. Turner is amazing at controlling a crowd, and he proved this again by telling us that we had to help him along by playing air harmonica. Some people looked nervous, so he told us that if we were "too cool to play air harmonica, fuck you, you hipster fuck!" (Awesome. Just awesome!)

Turner is an artist who loves what he does. You can tell by the passion, energy and laughter he brings on stage with him at every show. After going three songs straight (Queen is Dead, The Road, Photosynthesis) he called Hause up on the stage to join him for a song. They covered Constructive Summer, but before the last notes faded, Fat Mike (of NOFX fame) came on stage and all three did The Desperation's Gone. The crowd was energized before, but after this song was done, they were in a frenzy. A cover of Tom Petty's American Girl was the last of the joint songs. Turner finished up the night by jumping on a table in front of the stage and singing The Ballad of Me and My Friends. It was an amazing night, and an awesome show. I definitely won't forget Cinco De May of 2011 anytime soon!

England Keep My Bones will be released in the US on June 7, 2011.

 

 

 -Anni Thyme-
Big Wheel Contributor

                   More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

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