Review: Turbowolf, Trinity

‘How do you define Turbowolf?’ is probably one of the toughest questions to plague these modern times. The easiest label to give them would just be to call them a rock and roll band, but this doesn’t quite seem to fit when the dance and 80’s electronic influences shine through so clearly.

“I think a lot of press don’t quite know where to pigeonhole us.” Said Lianna Lee Davis, the bands fiery bass player, as we sit in the back of a cab on the way to the bands final show of their UK tour at the Trinity Centre. “We draw influences from everywhere, from world music to dance music and punk, we try to create something unusual and do our own thing.”

The band are touring their third studio album The Free Life; and tonight’s show is the biggest they’ve played at their home in Bristol. Despite a forced venue change (the show was originally going to be played at the Bierkeller) the band will be playing to a nearly sold out Trinity, a testament to the kind of reputation they have carved out for themselves with their unique sound and energetic live performances.

“All our crowds are pretty crazy. I find that wherever we play, whether it be Poland, America or anywhere in the UK that Turbowolf fans are all mental,” says Lianna. “In Scotland I had a guy stood over my monitor and he was just banging his head against it because he was getting so into it, that was kind of weird, I think we attract weirdos because we’re a bunch of weirdos and it’s great!”

Despite remaining active in the meantime, The Free Life is the band’s first studio album since 2015’s ‘Two Hands’. Needless to say, showcasing new material can be a daunting prospect but Lianna has been pleased with the reception the new material has garnered:

“We played a couple of songs on a small tour we did in October but this time we’re playing mostly new material, I think we have six or seven new songs in our setlist tonight. The receptions been really good, playing the same old stuff can get a little bit boring so it’s really nice to shake things up a bit and bring a new fire to the set. This tour has definitely been a progression for the band and there are a few songs on The Free Life that we aren’t playing out at the moment but will be playing in the future and I’m really looking forward to showing them off as well.”

We part ways at the stage door and I make my way into a nearly packed Trinity.

Anticipation builds and erupts when the band take to the stage, launching straight into Capital x, the first new song of the night; the studio version of the song features vocals from Joe Talbot, the enigmatic frontman from Bristol punk band Idles. Although Talbot was not there on the night, none of the energy was lost from this powerful opener.

After introducing the audience to The Free Life, the band jump into the track American Mirrors from their 2015 album Two Hands which even at this early stage in the show riles the crowd up to the brink of a full on mosh.

The setlist continues in much the same fashion. Recent single Cheap Magic as well as many other tracks from The Free Life are intertwined with crowd favourites from both the previous albums. Despite this mix of material, you wouldn’t be able to tell that some of it is merely weeks old; the energy remains near fever pitch throughout and the crowd sings along with Chris (frontman) throughout.

Lianna of Turbowolf, Photo: Dan Eden

The band are a spectacle to watch. Chris combines his unique mix of flamboyance, glam, humour and energy to make the crowd his own, leaving the stage to join them on more than one occasion. His image is matched only by Lianna, who makes the stage her own and commands her bass masterfully, occasionally engaging Chris in conversation as if there weren’t hundreds of sweaty and excited people few meters in front of them. Both her bass and Blake’s drumming are complimented perfectly by the venue sound system that makes you feel every riff and fill right in your internal organs. Andy’s guitar is like the engine driving this show, he patrols his area and shreds like a madman giving the baying crowd exactly what they came here to see.

Chris joins the crowd. Photo: Dan Eden

By the time Domino comes around the front of the crowd is in chaos. The stage director has a full time job on his hands escorting crowd surfers across the stage as the band continues unperturbed. The crowd is a mix of all ages, seasoned rockers in leather jackets are alongside excited teenagers in hoodies and caps, a literal example of the reach Turbowolf’s music has.

Turbowolf close the evening with a colossal rendition of Rabbits Foot which is then followed by new single and title track of the new album, The Free Life. “This is your last chance to dance” Chris says before the roof is well and truly brought down.

Turbowolf’s homecoming gig shows that the new album is exactly what their audience was hoping for. The band have two weeks to recharge their batteries before they take the show to Europe, then America and then a full on festival season. If tonight was anything to go by, the rest of the world should be yearning for a taste of The Free Life.