Franz Ferdinand in Ponderings of the Universe

Thus begins crazy concert week! Three in one week! WHEEEE!!!

Last night was the Franz Ferdinand concert and it was so much fun! I never really write in-depth entries right after concerns, so I figured I’d give this a try while the impressions are so fresh in my mind. I believe this was my 5th time seeing them live since they were first here in 2004 or 2005.

The quality of the sound was really impressive. Everything was perfectly balanced, almost studio quality, really. This contrasted dramatically from the opening band, Priests. The one thing I could say of them was that they were loud. Overbearingly loud. It was like bad, screaming, garage band music. Maybe they’re better recorded? I dunno. It’s interesting, Franz Ferdinand tends to choose opening acts that I really do not like and they tend to be loud, messy sounding, female-led screamer bands, which contrasts dramatically from the precision of the typical FF concert. Maybe that’s on purpose?

Anyway, we got there early and ended up being only three rows back and right in the middle, which I think is perfect. It is so much fun to be able to see the facial expressions of performers! Also, I’m not sure I’ve ever been right in front of Alex, the lead singer. He is ridiculously energetic and dances constantly (and quite badly, which is endearing), so it was fun to witness that up close. He is also a tiny human, sort of short and remarkably slim, which doesn’t come across in videos. One disappointment was that he didn’t jump off the drum stage as much as usual. I think one concert he did it at least 15 times, which amused me greatly. Maybe someone talked to him like “Alex, your enthusiasm is great, but you gotta change up your moves, maybe jump off drums less than twice every song?” And then I imagine he was like “Fine! I will just jump straight up and down a lot and do awkward things with my arms!” And he did.

One thing I had some worry about was how the New Guys would do. Nick, their lead guitarist, left the band because he wanted to spend more time with his family, so Dino (guitar) and Julian (keyboard) replaced him. While I missed Nick’s presence, I can’t say that I missed him musically. The new new guys were spectacular and added their own fair. There was no musical awkwardness with them performing older songs that had been originally performed with Nick.

They played a great mix of new songs and old. Here’s the set list, mostly for my benefit than anything else :P

Always Ascending
The Dark of the Matinée
No You Girls
Glimpse of Love
Paper Cages
Do You Want To
Walk Away
Lois Lane
Darts of Pleasure
Love Illumination
Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow
Take Me Out
Huck and Jim
Ulysses

Encore:
Lazy Boy
Michael
Feel the Love Go
This Fire

It was a great set! The sound was SO well balanced, which is kind of a rarity for live shows, and especially if you’re towards the front. You could hear all vocals and instrumentation. Really excellent vocal harmonies. They have a number of songs where there are dramatic tempo changes and they were so flawless. Paul, the drummer, is great! I’m impressed by his ability to play drums and sing harmony with what looks like ease. Also, I’m not sure he wears shoes while performing. Bassist Bob seems like a quiet, somewhat awkward human. Being able to see him playing up close definitely gave me a greater appreciation for how complicated many of the bass parts are in a lot of their songs.

I danced/jumped about so much! By the end I was sweaty and wished I had worn a more supportive bra lol! And there were a lot of audience participation/singing back parts which was fun. My voice is still a little hoarse today from all thing loud singing/screaming.

I can’t wait until the come here again :)

Last updated April 28, 2018