Tickets for this gig were, as some might say, rare as rocking horse shit, such has been the rapid rise of these Glaswegian popsters on the back of their smash self titled debut LP. The Academy was pumped up to the full for this one with a crowd that bore a fair representative slice of the nation's population indicative of this group's onslaught on the collective conscience. Such is their mass appeal.
First off, I have to say I'm a little disappointed at the lack of a dress code adopted by the lads; no suits but rather indie casual with eighties accessories which falls way short of my expectations! It's a bad start, but one I'm willing to forgive on account of the punchy punk guitar riffery of opening tune 'Jacqueline' which comes thundering out of the speakers and continues through 'Tell her Tonight' despite the modern romantic intrusions and girly middle eight.
The shades of Duran Duran et al in the main come courtesy of Nicholas McCarthy, Franz Ferdinand's erstwhile second in command. His presence is especially felt on 'Auf Achse'; a tune that's strangely reminiscent of Dr Miriam Stoppard's TV show from the 80s, for those in the know.( but what was that show called?) It also gives cause for me to remember Pete Burns's disco
favourite from the same forsaken time, but despite all this it's
surprisingly still not that bad a tune.
Confused? Well I certainly am. Franz Ferdinand have a habit of making that 80s Adam Ant thing almost acceptable. In main man Alexander Kapranos they have a singer who not only manages to have a modern front man like name (a la Casablancas who he sometimes sounds like) but who's also a huge presence to boot about the stage, treating us to a variety of cool posturings and
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manoeuvres while keeping his voice steady if not spectacular.
The best bits are undoubtedly the unashamed pop brilliance of 'Take Me Out' which if Chris Evans had a Friday night TV show would be its theme tune; it's a crowd jump up and down moment. Current single 'Dark Of The Matinee' has a similar effect but my own particular favourite would have to be '40ft' for all those magnificent guitar hooks. The duelling choppy guitars are for
me the band's most endearing feature rather than the bank of camp eighties keyboard sounds and phrases, which come and go not quickly enough.
For the encore they play 'Shopping For Blood' before ending with their first single 'Darts of Pleasure' and an elongated "Ich hiesse super Fantastiche"( sorry for the spelling!) outro for everyone to sing-along to. How fast things have moved on since its release late last year.
The band are triumphant and the whole crowd are definite in their
appreciation of a great show and the opportunity to see the band before they embark on their mission of world domination. They certainly didn't disappoint on this performance and despite my earlier misgivings concerning their attire I was greatly cheered by their efforts. So hats off to the Dukes but bring back the stylists with the damn suits, nowt wrong wi' a bit of Bryan Ferry. I'm off for a lie down.
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