Two FFs in one gig!
Fiery Furnaces came on and told us they would play through their set quickly so we could get to Franz Ferdy all the quicker. I have no idea how many songs they played, but they were all merged into one. The band played with enthusiasm; some bits stood out; the only song I knew sounded good, but it was all too unsettling to enjoy.
For me, the idea of seeing this FF was to be able to make a judgement about an interesting band, but I'm none the wiser. What I'd heard before had a hint of P J Harvey and perhaps a little Yeah Yeah Yeahs, tonight mixed in that was also some keyboard based stuff which didn't work so well (but I suspect the mix was as much to blame for this as anything else).
The audience were surpisingly tolerant of all this, in days gone by words (or phlegm or maybe even glasses) would have been exchanged when anything difficult was presented to a pop audience - but then again most of the audience weren't engaged either.
As far as Franz Ferdinand goes, this was one of those 'you had to be there' gigs. FF may bottle it, they may master it, they may start to believe their hype or surrender to drugs, but right now they are at that great moment where there is intimacy, newness and fun, and all too soon that might be gone. We were treated to (I think) the whole LP plus one or two others, so everyone's longed for highlight must have been played, and justice was done to all.
The Carling Academy (or Lomax 2 as it was) is a bit cavernous, but it shouldn't be a bad venue. I've never been to a gig there where I could say the sound was good though, and tonight was no exception. The haphazard quality of the sound at the beginning made me think there had been only a cursory sound check, but fortunately it improved. The balance was still pretty bad though.
Starting with Jaqueline - so apt, that quiet moment leading straight into the catchy riffs and sing-along chorus, it was all up from then on. I don't really know how to write about this, when you're happy you don't really want to consider critical faculties you just want to enjoy it. Franz Ferdinand for me come from the same place as Orange Juice - it's pop music with a cheeky twist, foppish but guitary, fun with substance, and I suppose there's fringes too. But what Franz Ferdinand did that Orange Juice couldn't was deliver when the world is watching.
All those Postcard singles were fantastic, but when Orange Juice signed to big bad Polydor it all started to go downhill. You Can't Hide Your Love Forever has some great moments (really great), but time has shown it was a missed opportunity although the closest they had to a peak. As soon as James Kirk went, that was it, there were just isolated high points from then on (some very good ones though).
Franz Ferdinand seem equipped to continue - their studio manipulator has listened to their songs and brought out the bits we need to hear, added the emphasis to make our ears prick, colluded in their rough edges. You're left feeling they can get better.
So tonight isn't as good as the record, but they're in the room and dancing into our hearts. The audience knows all the words already and is ready to clap and sing when asked. The band soon deviate from the LP track order, so you have that great 'that was great, what's next... wow that!' feeling. The tempo change in Take Me Out seems especially perverse, Auf Achse is less metronomic but in this setting probably better for it, Cheating On You sounds like The Beatles (!), and everyone wanted to dance with Michael.
Great stuff.
Neal - 17/04/04