Franz Ferdinand at Brixton Academy

At least tonight I wasn't rushing from the office. Saturday night so I could get to Brixton early and get a place down the front. Well only just. I wasn't the only one with that idea. The queue to enter was literally around the block. Franz Ferdinand had had a bit of a hiatus, not to mention a new line-up, as well as a new album, so I guess no one was sure how enthusiastic the public would be for their return. Very seemed to be the answer. They sold out Brixton and I am sure would easily have done so somewhere bigger like Ally Pally.

First support was a band I think called 14 Years of Crying. They attempted to look a bit goth. The vocalist sound like a reincarnation of Hazel O'Connor. And that is not something the world needed. Hard on the ears.

Second support came from Albert Hammond Jr. Now he was seriously good. Meant nothing to me, so got the lowdown from Andy, whereupon I realised we had had this conversation before. (I am getting old.) Anyway, turns out he is the guitarist from the Strokes, which explains both the quality of the music and the assuredness of the performance.

 

This is Albert himself by the way

But onto Franz Ferdinand. Unfortunately, by the time Andy found me at the front, the crowd was pretty much at full extent and people were unhappy at him blocking their view (with which I can sympathise since I can't see over his shoulders let alone his head. So the upshot is I had to shuffle back a couple of places along the front, letting a couple in front of me who I had to try to ignore snogging vigorously through the performance. Get a room guys. And there ought to be a rule about having that much hair between them. Like a copulating fur ball.

Anyway, back to the subject matter. Andy described this as a ridiculously good gig, and I think that is a fair description. Just utterly superb from the start of "Always Ascending", the opening track from the new album. This was just one great song after another, interweaving new stuff with their substantial back catalogue. The band looked and sounded great. In contrast to Alvvays there was always something to watch, not just the highly animated Alex Kapranos, now sporting a spruced peroxide haircut (a sure sign of receding hairline), but the rest of his band too. Special mention to Julian Corrie who has joined as keyboard/guitar/supporting vocals and was very good. Just a terrific show start to finish, the finish being a storming "This Fire". I reckoned they took about 5 tracks off their first album, so plenty of old favourites for the fans, including the seminal "Take Me Out" but also including a very rocky version of Michael.

One of the things that mark out FF as a band is not just the sheer volume of brilliant songs, but that those songs are just bursting with ideas. They won't just have one hook, but two or more. Anyway, all in all a terrific night.

Alex Kapranos

Julian Corrie