It’s an absolute sweatbox inside the Tramshed this evening, but that’s no surprise considering this show sold out almost instantly. Frank Turner is back in town, with his backing band the Sleeping Souls and following the release of his 10th album Undefeated earlier this year – a number-one hit on the independent album charts, no less. “Just ignore that it was number three in the main charts,” says Turner to us this evening.

Opening with a one-two punch of No Thank You For The Music and Girl From The Record Shop, both from that latest album, Turner makes it clear what he wants from this Monday night crowd. “Get your dancing shoes on! I wanna see you get moving!” And move the room does, with a brace of cuts from 2015 album Positive Songs For Negative People: Get Better and The Next Storm. Before the latter, the frontman swaps his electric guitar for acoustic and raises it in the air before welcoming us all to Frank Turner show 2923 and letting the room know the two rules for tonight’s show. Namely: don’t be a dick and if you know the words then sing along. 

Before Letters, Frank reveals the song’s Welsh connection: it’s inspired by a penpal from Llanelli he met on a camping holiday in Cornwall when he was 15. “I was wearing a Korn hoodie, because the first Korn album fucking slaps – it still does – and I got chatting with a girl wearing a Pennywise shirt … the letters died out after three years and I never heard from her again. Until about two months ago when I got an email asking ‘is that song about me?’” 

There’s some time for requests tonight too. The Fisher King Blues is aired alongside Smiling At Strangers On Trains – by Turner’s pre-solo band Million Dead – and Balthazar, Impresario, but what really hits are, well, the hits. After Photosynthesis brings the house down, an encore opens with Undefeated’s title track and is followed by a run of Recovery, I Still Believe, and a rampant Four Simple Words. Tonight is just a reminder that Frank Turner’s shows are one of the best places to forget about the outside world, and to sing, dance, and have a boatload of fun. 

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Tramshed, Cardiff, Mon 22 July

words JOSHUA WILLIAMS photos CHLOE JACKSON-NOTT