‘It’s great to see you all. It’s only been a bit of a while’.
Well, that's a slight understatement from Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kaprano’s as the four piece took to the stage of the Brixton Electric last night. The show, one of two being played in lead up to the release of their new album, Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action, the other taking place in Glasgow, was a sell out, and understandably so. After a noticeable absence, the Glaswegian quartet, were full of energy, matched by the enthusiastic crowd. Opening with new song ‘Right Words’, Kaprano’s proved he was still the energetic showman we all know so well.
Moving quickly between classics such as ‘Tell Her Tonight’ and ‘Matinee’ from their 2004 self-titled debut, and so-far unreleased songs from the forthcoming album, including ‘Evil Eye’, (already a crowd pleaser, being sung along to by most of the diehard crowd), and slower song ‘Fresh Strawberries’, the guys were able to put on an evenly paced show. One of the reasons for the seamless set, was in part due to the fact that Franz haven’t deviated away from their dance-rock origins, whilst the show was exciting and frantic, it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before from the band.
Watch Franz Ferdinand performing 'Evil Eye' below:
This is not to suggest that this is a bad thing, as what the Glasgow boys do, they do it extremely well, and unlike any of their peers. The songs still sound as fresh and as different as they did eight years ago, and that is probably the reason that they have been able to take time off, and come back without having to re-invent themselves. The encore was more subdued, two slower songs from their new album, with ‘Jacqueline’ sandwiched between, made for a slightly anti-climatic ending, after the energising gig.
