Tuesday 20 January 2009

Support:
Of Montreal
 

I was very excited to see Franz Ferdinand in such a small venue, as I had previously only seen them at large festivals (Reading 06 and V 05) and they certainly lived up to my expectations. The support act were Of Montreal, and I had naively assumed they were just some rubbish American folky band. I was very wrong! They play a dizzyingly experimental kind of disco pop, with surreal performance art incoporated into their act in the form of people dressed as ninjas and buddas on stage, and lead singer Kevin Barnes covering his face in shaving cream and dressing in extravagent costumes. They were extremely fun to listen to and watch, and the day after the gig I went immediately out and bought their latest album.

 
Franz Ferdinand took to the stage shortly after 10pm and played a 15 song set that consisted of alternating new and old tracks. The new songs were received extremely well (possibly due to the album having leaked a few weeks previously) and the band looked in good spirits as they danced around the small stage and smiled at the audience already singing along. Alex even attempted to play his guitar behind his head during 40ft. The crowd had a very good atmosphere and although I was in the middle of it and everyone was dancing away, I could see perfectly and wasn’t shoved or pushed once, although I suspect this may have had to do with the 18+ nature of the gig more than anything else. The highlight of the evening was definately the epic Outsiders, with the whole band taking to the drumkit at the end of the song. It was followed by This Fire which closed the gig, and white balloons were released onto the joyful crowd. It was a perfect first gig of the year, and the intimate setting was just right to try out tracks from their new album.