Photo: Daniel Quesada
There are some things in life that people just desperately want to go well: Obama’s presidency, the Moon landings and England’s Euro 96 campaign to name just a few.
It’s fair to say that among a large swathe of music fans FFS, the (whisper it quietly) super-group consisting of every member of Sparks and Franz Ferdinand falls into this category.
It would be hard to think of two bands that have garnered more good will from two generations of music fans than the two that make up the six-piece on stage tonight. But, as the achingly self-referential FFS song itself points out, ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’ – so to say they are too big to fail would be naïve.
But come on, did you really think the two savviest bands out there would fall into this trap? FFS aren’t too big to fail – they’re too smart to fail.
From the opening bars of curtain raiser ‘Johnny Delusional’, tonight there appears no way the crowd will allow this to be anything but a success. It is the first of three FFS original songs played by the band before they duck into safer territory with Franz Ferdinand charm offensive ‘Walk Away’.
But it’s Sparks barnstormer ‘Achoo’ that carries on its madcap melodies any anxiety that this will be anything other than special night. Half way through perhaps the most Sparks of Sparks songs there’s a sense that all will surely be well and that everyone can get on with the very important business of enjoying themselves.
None of this is to say that FFS’s songs are in some way a burden that the crowd must endure before being treated to their heroes’ old favourites.
Several of the new tracks, notably ‘Things I won’t Get’, ‘Dictator’s Son’ and ‘Piss Off’, come close to stealing the show from their more established cousins. But when Russell Mael and Alex Kapranos trade vocal blows on ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’ there is just nothing to do but absorb the pure pleasure.
The younger elements of the crowd, many of whom are here solely down to their affection for Kapranos and co, outnumber their more flamboyant and more senior counterparts. But after an atmosphere that started off with a hint of emotional segregation, by the time the encore comes around everyone appears to be singing the same tune. Large parts of the crowd do this quite literally in the case of closer ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’ – a powerful satire that could have been disastrous in less skilful hands.
And FFS have done it. Riding on a wave of adulation they make sure this is as much fun for their fans as it is for them. Sometimes people desperately want things to go well and they do. Tonight is one of those nights.
Franz Ferdinand played:
Johnny Delusional
The Man Without A Tan
Save Me from Myself
Walk Away (Franz Ferdinand cover)
Little Guy From The Suburbs
Dictator's Son
Achoo (Sparks cover)
The Power Couple
Do You Want To (Franz Ferdinand cover)
Things I Won't Get
So Desu Ne
The Number One Song in Heaven (Sparks cover)
Michael (Franz Ferdinand cover)
This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us (Sparks cover)
Police Encounters
Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand cover)
Piss Off
Encore:
When Do I Get to Sing "My Way" (Sparks cover)
Call Girl
Collaborations Don't Work
