Review | Frank Turner at Staggeringly Good Brewery with Pie & Vinyl, breaking the record for the most gigs in 24 hours: "Welcome to my mid-life crisis"

It’s not a typical gig by any stretch, but this is part of folk-punk troubadour Frank Turner’s bid to break the record for the most gigs in different towns and cities in 24 hours.

Portsmouth’s Staggeringly Good Brewery is the 13th stop out of 15 – and he’s already smashed the previous record of 10, held by American performer Hunter Hayes. The tour began in Liverpool at 12.30pm the day before, winding its way down England over the course of 500 miles and a dozen more shows before hitting here. It finishes at midday in Southampton.

The tour is ostensibly to plug Turner’s new album, Unbreakable, but is also taking part in conjunction with the Music Venue Trust to highlight the work of independent venues and record stores across the land (our stop is an out-store with Pie and Vinyl).

By the time Turner hits the stage – impressively only five minutes late – he is by his own admission frazzled. He kicks things off by saying: “My name is Frank Turner and welcome to my mid-life crisis. I am losing my mind...”, to a huge cheer.

Given the logistics of the affair this is just Turner with his acoustic guitar shorn of his usual backing band, The Sleeping Souls.

The 30 minute, eight-song set leans heavily on the new album – No Thank You For The Music is a firey blast of righteous anger about gatekeeping, and even manages to spark the first of several singalongs, while Girl From The Record Shop is a sweet story of simpler times. And Never Mind the Back Problems is a wry take on being a middle-aged punk

Things may, understandably, be a bit ragged around the edges, but the crowd is clearly lifting him and carrying him to the finish line.

Turner grew up in Meonstoke, so Portsmouth is practically home-turf for him, and he is visibly moved by the response to Wessex Boy about his formative years from the 2011 album England Keep My Bones.

He finishes with another new song and singalong for Do One, and he’s off, out the door to the penultimate gig at Winchester’s Railway Inn (also promoted by Pie and Vinyl).

The gig sold out in less than an hour, and as Pie and Vinyl owner Steve Courtnell says: “It’s been great to be involved and we could feel the buzz from everyone as they were coming in – there’s a real sense that this is something special.

"It’s been a privilege to be part of this – and if there was any pressure it’s in not wanting to be the venue that messed it up! It must be 10 years since we had Frank playing in the shop and he’s always remembered where he came from.”

It’s short and sweet, but has put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.