Its been ten years since Franz Ferdinand first burst into the pop-rock mainstream with possibly one of the best debut albums by any band.
Their self-titled first album was a fabulously cultivated series of dance rock anthems, with an number of jangly and gleeful but massive choruses even beyond the signature scrawl of Take Me Out.The album led to an Ivor Novello songwriting award and two Brit Awards. It was then followed up by a second album in 2005 and a major tour that included four sell-out nights to 8,000-a-time at Alexandra Palace and a headline performance at Reading Festival 2006.
Franz may not have followed fellow '06 headliners Muse and Pearl Jam into doing tunes in a stadium environment, but their music is certainly a beast that works as well - if not, better - in a gorgeous-looking & intimate room such as the historic Roundhouse.
Dressed in identical black, white and grey suits, the band kicked off the evening in surprise fashion, as drummer Paul Thomson walked on alone, before counting in and kicking off the intro snare rolls of new song Bullet. This was soon followed up by the appearance of the rest of the band appearing from behind video towers onto the stage.
Most acts nowadays perform with LCD and LED video screens that give the effect of being giant televisions, to the point where its now a bit perfunctory to see these. So some kudos has to go to the band for using the vintage high school projector, which displays a myriad of funky artistic imagery around and behind the four-piece. This had begun with a montage of airport departure windows, which had been booted up some 10 minutes before the band had even begun the gig.
After the opener, the band were back into the debut material - beginning with carefree anthem The Dark of the Matinee. It leads to a trade-off of sorts, with new songs like Evil Eye followed up by vintage classics like No You Girls and an extended rendition of Do You Want To.
New or old, the band and crowd were certainly enjoying themselves. Sweat was apparent on both sides of the crowd control barriers, with the crowd entering the dance-rock spirit with gusto. Meanwhile, singer Alex Kapranos looked to be having one hell of a time behind the microphone, energetically bouncing around the stage with a number of high-kicks.
There is certainly a fine interlocking music ship, with Bob Hardy and Thomson's rhythm section finely placed for Kapranos and guitarist/keyboardist Nick McCarthy to layer on a number of jangly guitar licks. Its also impressive how much energy flows through the show from the start, with Kapranos showing more energy than many bands half his age.
The energy does recede for the calm melancholy of new single Fresh Strawberries and classic ballad Walk Away, before restarting for the build-up tune Stand on the Horizon and a surprise I Feel Love-inspired remix of Can't Stop Feeling.
Bigger surprises follow, with an airing for vintage track Auf Achse followed quickly by a shortened version of electro-rock freakout Lucid Dreams. But they are both warmly received old friends, and set us up nicely for a big run of finishes. It starts off with Michael and then the pop-rock classic Take Me Out, which is very much the song that gets the room moshing like never before.
It leads nicely into a raucous rendition of Love Illumination, the demonic This Fire and a final run-through of Ulysses, which closed the bands last appearance here.
They're not done this time though, kicking straight back into things with the punchy and direct Right Action. Two older album cuts follow before a run-through of new album closer Goodbye Lovers and Friends seems to bring things towards the end.
"But what if this is not the end?" ponders Kapranos, before adding "Do you want one more?". An enthusiastic crowd agrees, and we're led straight into the delightful Outsiders. Its an impressive myriad of jangly styles led by the percussive snap of tambourine, and it ends with the classic dogpile around Thomson's drums, as the sound of percussion fills the room all the way to the nights conclusion.
Certainly, the band have proved that, for all the trials and tribulations they've encountered since reaching the rock n roll big time, the band are still an impressive live force and capable of delivering a fantastic night out for all.
4.5/5
Supporting the band were underground troupe Mazes, whose singer said his previous time seeing Franz Ferdinand came 10 years or so back when the band were opening for Belle and Sebastian. While Mazes somehow managed to five songs before someone remembered to switch on their snare drum microphone, the band certainly improved from unsubtle beginnings to an impressive conclusion.
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