Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Dominic Stephenson enjoys a night of unabashedly upbeat showmanship from the Glaswegian band
Image: Franz Ferdinand by Dominic Stephenson
Franz Ferdinand had been on my live bucket list for an aeon, and for more than just the nostalgia factor. Home Counties were opening on this run of shows, another band I’d wanted to catch, and while it wasn’t helped that we were watching up in the rafters, their electronic jangling was amiable but ultimately too vanilla for any lasting effect.
After wangling our way into the stalls, the evergreen Glaswegians had pulled a generation-spanning crowd that underlined their legacy status. Even though they’ve had several line-up changes over the years, it’s immediately apparent the quintet has maintained the sparkling hubris that’s elevated them to household names over three decades. A career-combing setlist was scrumptiously crafted, as they delved straight into golden nuggets from yesteryear, with the first piledriver being the lugubrious post-punk of rarity 40′. Alex Kapranos’ suave vocal game spliced the roving Evil Eye and he paid homage to his Greek heritage on the wonky fiesta Black Eyelashes, one of their most interesting tunes in recent years. The seasoned frontman is still clearly at his most comfortable performing to thousands of people and he stoked the embers of elation on Michael and The Fallen, before the triple guitar battery of the globally renowned Take Me Out provoked an atomic reaction. The oscillating indie pop of Night Or Day is arguably the strongest from latest album The Human Fear as they breezed into the encore, before an extended, virulent rendition of heavy hitter This Fire. Watertight and unabashedly upbeat, this was a masterclass in showmanship from an iconic band who earned their salt many moons ago.
