GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE
Who
I barely improved my position in the excessive 45 minute wait for Franz's 9pm start but by the time they bounded onstage with the somewhat unoriginal Michael I was sold. My memories of the Reading show were warm and fuzzy enough to hold my interest alone but it was a relief to confirm that Franz are an unnervingly consistent band who are just as good to dance to as to mosh. Also the Academy sound quality wasn't as bad as usual, as was demonstrated on the stunning current single No You Girls, which showed much progression while staying true to the poppy Franz style. The crowd were enthusiastic, despite the usual large heads in front giving me a sore neck. There was also some amateurish moshing going on around me, by which I mean that they hadn't mastered the art of not bumping into others such as me! I thought that dancing was more suitable but the band coupled with the crowd's willingness to have fun made my position of just behind the balcony acceptable, especially at the points where I escaped the large heads. Do You Want To attracted the largest cheer so far but Franz forfeit half a mark on their score below by not screaming "do you want to!" at the intro like they'd done at Reading! Meanwhile I find it hard to believe I'd considered The Dark Of The Matinee to be a pale facsimile of Take Me Out at first. I'm starting to think it may be the equal! Walk Away showed live Franz at their best, varying the tempo considerably from the record but without ruining it in the slightest. Once they picked up its pace for the chorus everyone was entranced. By the time they reached Take Me Out I had mixed feelings. It was obvious that Franz had learned no lessons about spreading their best songs out over the set. However, in a world full of self-indulgent artists it was a pleasure that they were playing them all and thanks to my improved knowledge I needed more than one hand to list all the songs left that I still wanted to hear.
It was also commendable that Franz Ferdinand played Take Me Out for no doubt the millionth time with so much enthusiasm. As they play all the main hits properly it let you judge their songs fairly, warming towards the smaller hits rather than fuming at them for making criminal omissions. The Fallen was very good and went down well with the crowd, and Turn It On was perhaps the highlight from a visual point of view, making you believe that Franz could yet evolve into a full-on dance act. They made occasional use of the video screen which covered the full length of the stage but the set was very low on gimmicks, the tunes speaking for themselves. Such as 40' Ft for example, which was drawn out as a crowd participation number. Ulysses hadn't made much of a dent on the charts but showed that Franz are still at the top of their game, garnering a delirious reaction and being a strong end to the main set. I wonder sometimes why The Killers, a band who can still write good songs but seem to be going mad with power and over-production, have gone onto stadium shows whereas Franz are still stuck in the medium-sized venues. Franz arguably are a bit limited but their style is great and Ulysses is definitely the equal of Human! It happened at Reading too, and I'm not quite sure why, but I always forget about Jacqueline. The band returned to the stage with this and it went down a storm before they played Lucid Dreams dedicated to the guys near the bar who were dancing like crazy. And now it was time for Outsiders where a camera of the on-stage antics was shown on the video screen. We sung it back happily and a random guy came onstage to join in as the band gathered around Paul's drum kit for an extra-long drum solo. Outsiders was yet another example of why You Could Have It So Much Better had been such a strong second album which was randomly panned by critics. Indeed, its only faults had been not quite matching the debut and the annoying way that the studio version of Outsiders cut off before going anywhere interesting.
I'd expected the band to leave the stage again but they launched straight into This Fire, which was extra-satisfying as the city that they were metaphorically burning was Birmingham! It could have done with some more fire effects on the video screen but it was the ideal ending to a Franz Ferdinand show and I saw little point in them returning to the stage, even though they'd played for less than 90 minutes. This could have been a perfect set with the aforementioned alteration to Do You Want To, if I were further forwards and a bit drunk and if they'd had left the stage after Outsiders before doing a second encore of Darts Of Pleasure, Tell Her Tonight, I'm Your Villain, Eleanor Put Your Boots On, This Boy and then This Fire. Of course, these omissions were fairly minor but if Franz had lasted the full two hours they are already capable of playing a filler-free set. At the time I felt this show had justified the effort of travelling to Birmingham, so was more than a little disappointed when they announced a Wolverhampton show for later in the year! I was frustrated yet tempted but didn't see the point in repeating myself so decided against it. Even though it hadn't been quite as good as Reading, it had been different enough to be worthwhile and I enjoyed it from start to finish. It was still too late to catch a train all the way home so I forked out £20 on a taxi at Wolverhampton. I'd discovered the hard way on the Friday night that it takes nearly four hours to reach home on foot. The walk hadn't been too bad and it was nice to avoid the rip-off fares, but arriving home at 4am was less tolerable! I hadn't bothered checking but was relieved to confirm afterwards that there hadn't been a bus that would have got me home for cheaper! I drafted this review on my phone on the way back, as is now my routine, and I felt pleased with the standard of gigging so far in 2009. 2008 had been an awe-inspiring year, musically and otherwise. I'd watched Brian Wilson, Sir Paul McCartney, The Flaming Lips and Gogol Bordello twice for starters. I may not be able to scale those heights again, but I'll certainly keep trying.
Mark: 8.0/10
Franz Ferdinand
Support
The Soft Pack
Where
Birmingham Academy
When
8th March 2009
Price
£20.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the back
Comments
I've always held Franz Ferdinand in high regard, especially on the back of their Reading 2006 show where they somehow kept my attention after seemingly blowing all their hits in the first half of the set. However they'd vanished for two years since and I felt it would have been wrong to miss out, especially as I was looking to fill up my diary with some exciting nights out! I even made the step of buying their third album Tonight and learning it to ensure that this time I was a fan armed with sufficient knowledge of the back catalogue to enjoy more than just the hits. On the day I visited the chip shop then had a packet of fruit pastilles to cancel out the smell. I was in a deeply ambivalent mood, on one hand excitedly planning a holiday in America but on the other deeply annoyed that my computer had spent much of the day being totally gay. It was also a fairly cold evening and I wasn't particularly in the spirit of things, wondering why I'd decided to see them in Birmingham on a Sunday when getting a taxi home is the only viable option. I was further disheartened to arrive around 8ish to find the Academy was extremely busy already. I went downstairs, noting with some surprise that the balcony had been left fully open, resisted beer and wandered over to the left and a decidedly distant position from the stage. I noted with some interest that the show was to be recorded live and you could purchase a recording for £15 afterwards, but decided against buying it, figuring the taxi was a large enough expense for one evening. The Soft Pack were already on stage but I didn't really enjoy them. However I completely reserve judgement as this may have been down to the poor sound system of the Academy and my distance from the band. I had actually been quite keen to see them but had failed to accommodate for the early doors opening time of 7pm. This definitely had been a mistake as I was unable to get anywhere near the stage!
