CityLife

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand
Apollo
October 17, 2009

FOLLOWING a surprise afternoon acoustic set at the city’s Ruby Lounge, Franz Ferdinand greeted a sold-out Apollo armed with an enviable back catalogue and no shortage of crowd pleasers.

Five years ago, this was a band that soundtracked thousands of student union bars and indie-discos with their catchy, post-punk pop.

They soon become a main stage festival attraction, with their current album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand praised for its forward thinking approach and electronic backbone.

It’s soon clear they’ve lost none of their chicken legged energy and pop band sharpness: the opening half of the show is an arms aloft stormer.

Mash-up of old and new

Singles Do You Want To, Matinée and No You Girls prove their classic pop nous isn’t about the give up the ghost, with singer Alex Kapranos flanked by the bouncing Nick McCarthy and his seemingly inexhaustible well of singable guitar riffs. A mash-up of new and old, their set is well paced and never dull.

Tell Her Tonight is a reminder of the quartet’s art-school disco roots and Take Me Out, their biggest hit, gets the Apollo’s heart and feet firmly pumping.

The Bowie-esque stomp of Ulysses is another highlight, while the guitar-heavy Michael pleases those with eyes firmly on the dance floor.

Encoring with no less than six songs, including a perfunctory version of LCD Soundsystem’s All My Friends, the band finish with an extended, electronic-heavy Lucid Dreams, testing the ears of some fans more used to their short and snappy indie-rock.

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