Images: Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, The Smith Street Band, Koo Koo Kangaroo, October 12, 2013 at Hard Rock Live

British singer/songwriter and sometimes hardcore vocalist Frank Turner returned to Vegas on October 12 with his band The Sleeping Souls, for his very first headlining show in our city.

Kicking the show off was the self-described “hyperactive dance pop” duo Koo Koo Kangaroo. While the silly name was an early indication that they were going to be a bit different from their tourmates, I don’t think anyone expected what we got when Bryan and Neil took the stage. With a beat blaring behind them the twosome launched into child-themed parody rap songs, with topics ranging from hating the crust on PB&Js, driving around in a sweet minivan and the existence of unicorns. These guys have played with Reel Big Fish and The Aquabats as well as participating in the Yo Gabba Gabba Live setting where I’m sure their act goes over great, but doing the same in front of a few hundred folk fans takes a lot more guts than I’ll ever have. They spent most of their set in the audience, teaching sweet dance moves and ended by throwing a classic PE-style parachute into the audience while singing about their favorite colors. While a few grumpy faces stayed locked in a state of disbelief, it seemed that most of the crowd was sporting ear to ear smiles.

How does one go about following the spectacle that is Koo Koo Kangaroo? The Smith Street Band, hailing all the way from Melbourne Australia, did it by putting on one of the most intense folk-punk sets I’ve seen since witnessing the early days of Against Me. Frontman Wil Wagner has a way of using his voice to convey heaps of emotion, from the melancholy to the urgent. I started listening to the band shortly after this tour was announced and quickly became a big fan, especially of their latest release Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams, so I was beyond excited to hear “Ducks Fly Together,” “Bigger Than Us” and the title track live, and was also stoked to see there were more than a few people in the crowd also among the converted, perched right against the Hard Rock Live barrier shouting every word. It’s quite a long trip from Melbourne to Vegas, so hopefully the warm reception encourages them to come back sooner rather than later.

With competition from the Gogol Bordello show at the Cosmo, City and Colour at the House of Blues and the Desert Rats With Baseball Bats release show at the Double Down it was nice to see that there were still plenty of Frank Turner fans in attendance to give him and The Sleeping Souls a warm welcome. They kicked things off with England Keep My Bones lead single “I Still Believe,” with fans providing the gang vocals, and kept the momentum going with “Try This at Home” from 2009’s Poetry of the Deed, one of my favorite Turner songs and the one that really leans on the “punk” side of the “folk-punk” genre.

Turner was guitarless, unable to play due to a back injury that nearly derailed the entire tour, but he used the opportunity to leap around the stage and jump up on the barrier, probably not great for his back either, but it did provide for a lot of energy (and gave most of us the closest approximation of seeing Turner’s Möngöl Hörde project in person.) Turner did, however, break doctor’s orders once during the set, giving the Souls a break while he busted out his trusty acoustic and played a faithful cover of Tom Petty’s classic “American Girls.”

Another break in the set came when Turner and Sleeping Souls keyboard player Matt Nasir played a version of Tape Deck Heart b-side “Wherefore art thou Gene Simmons?” that swaps out Turner’s delicate strumming for a sparse key arrangement that when paired with Turner’s emotive voice makes the song even more melancholy than on record.

I could listen to “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous” a million times and never get tired of it, so I had to put down the camera and sing at the top of my lungs when it showed up in the setlist, and I was glad to see so many others singing along too. The infectious “Photosynthesis,” played during the encore, was another crowd favorite, and it was awesome finally hearing the full band version of “Long Live the Queen” live. It’s such a sad song, but in a live setting, the words are contrasted with fast a tempo and more upbeat and full instrumentation that’s just so much fun to dance to.

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls ended their set wearing smiles as big as those on the impassioned crowd. And having drawn that many people out on a crowded big show weekend, hopefully this means many more headlining appearances from Turner and company in the future.

-Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/