FRANK Turner has played Wembley before, and is doing so again, but with two subtle differences.
Firstly, the concert will not be in the football stadium, but the still-gigantic arena nearby.
And secondly, this time he will not be opening for Green Day, but headlining the gig himself.
Speaking to the Chronicle this week, he said: “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little bit nervous about this show.”
He added: “I saw the venue on the television the other night, and it’s just such a cavernous place.”
It will certainly be a night to remember for Frank, who reached a significant milestone earlier this year.
He performed his 1,000th show since leaving Million Dead, and soon after, played a homecoming concert at the Railway Inn, Winchester.
Yet that was six months ago, and Frank hasn’t seen much of his home town in 2011.
Perhaps that is one reason why he has chosen a song about Winchester entitled Wessex Boy as his next single.
Released on Monday, November 28, the video features a large amount of footage filmed in the city.
Frank said: “There are lots of songs about England and about Hampshire on my latest album and I think that’s possibly because I don’t spend much time there at the moment because I’m doing so much touring.”
His passport has recently acquired visa stamps from America and China, and further shows in Europe are planned.
His closest gig to home turf in the coming weeks will be next Tuesday (November 22) at Bournemouth Academy.
However, he hopes to include some Hampshire dates as part of the tour that includes Wembley Arena on April 13 next year.
Also on the 2012 to-do-list is working on some hardcore and electronic music as a separate project.
And if life wasn’t busy enough, this month he is also releasing an anthology of work from the past three years.
Frank is also putting together some songs for his next studio album.
“The trouble is trying to find enough time to sit down and record them,” he said.
Not that we’ve heard the last of current album, England Keep My Bones, as it is still spawning singles.
The latest, Wessex Boy, may not be a chart-topper, but should please the ‘home supporters’.
“I haven’t written it with a Radio 1 audience in mind,” he said. “I think there’s a much folkier element to this song than some of the others, which is a good thing.”
Only time will tell if it wows the crowd at Wembley Arena. We’ll find out next April.
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