I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 9, 2023] Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand played a Greatest Hits show in August of 2022.  I wanted to go but it was the same night as Elvis Costello’s show–and I promised myself I’d see him no matter what (shame his show was so disappointing).

So when Franz Ferdinand was announced as an opening act for Pixies I grabbed a ticket right away.  I wouldn’t have gotten one if I didn’t like the headliners or anything, but hey, Pixies are great, so it was a double win.

It turns out that for this show they played an hour.  And for the greatest hits show they played for an hour and twenty minutes, so I really did get a double win.

For some reason I forgot that Franz Ferdinand were Scottish.  So that was a fun surprise.  As was Alex Kapranos’ energy and fun bouncing around the stage.  He was constantly jumping and getting himself in photographable poses.   It was a blast.

The people around me I’m pretty sure were there for Franz Ferdinand as they were bouncing and dancing to everything.  And Alex kept walking around to both sides of the stage and waving and pointing at people in the audience.

They opened with a slow song I didn’t recognize.  And that’s when I also realized that no matter how much I like their debut album I hadn’t listened to it in a long time, of that was the quiet intro to “Jacqueline” a super fun song that I’ve always liked the chorus of “it’s always better on holiday so much better on holiday–that’s why we only work when we need the money.”

The set was a mix of songs, with the majority coming from the first album (yay!) and then hits and others from the other records.  Strangely (or maybe not) there were no songs from their last album Always Ascending (2018).  And they didn’t play anything that they’re released since the 2020s (mostly singles and the like).  That’s also kind of interesting since most of the band is new since 2017 (only Alex and bassist Bob Hardy are original members).

But the songs they played were really fun and were pretty much all on their Greatest Hits.  And since I’m not a deep cuts fan, this was perfect.

I loved that they sprinkled the songs from the debut throughout the set.  But I was also thrilled that there were so many other songs I knew, like “No You Girls” and “Do You Want To.”

I had forgotten how much I love “The Dark of the Matinee” and I was thrilled that they played it.

When they got to “Take Me Out” I was sure that was the end of the set (they’d played about 45 minutes).  But I also noticed that there was a small drum kit (basically two drums) in front of drummer Audrey Tait’s kit.  And they hadn’t been used yet.  Sure enough, their hugest song wasn’t the end.

They played “Outsiders” with a very nice introduction for Audrey Tait (who joined in 2021 and who was really great–she is in lots of other bands and is worth looking into).  After the song, the lights went out and when they came back on, Audrey was at the tiny kit and everyone else in the band was behind the drums.  Guitarist Dino Bardot sat at the kit while Bob and Alex just hit random things.  Keyboardist Julian Corrie came over with a cowbell to add to the noise.  It was a lot of fun.

And then they ended the set with “This Fire” which I had totally forgotten about and which totally brought the house down.

It was a great, enjoyable set, although I should have put my ear plugs in for it–they were much louder than I realized.  But they sounded so good I didn’t want to muffle it mid show.

So comparing this show to the Fillmore show from August, they played five fewer songs.  Listening to them now, I realize I didn’t really know any of them (I recognized the two bonus songs from the Great Hits, so I must have listened to that recently).  But I certainly didn’t miss them.  I’m delighted to have made the right choice.

1. Jacqueline ♣
2. No You Girls ‰
3. Evil Eye ⇑
4. Walk Away ⊗
5. Darts of Pleasure ♣
6. Do You Want To ⊗
7. The Dark of the Matinée ♣
8. The Fallen ⊗
9. Love Illumination ⇑
10. Michael ♣
11. Ulysses ‰
12. Take Me Out ♣
13. Outsiders ⊗
14. This Fire ♣

♣ Franz Ferdinand (2004)
⊗ You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)
‰ Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009)
⇑ Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (2013)

These songs were played in August 2022, the show I could have gone to.

1. Right Action ⇑
2. Curious ♦
3. Stand on the Horizon ⇑
4. Always Ascending ∀
5. Billy Goodbye ♦

⇑ Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (2013)
∀ Always Ascending (2018)
♦ New song from Greatest Hits compilation Hits to the Head (2022)