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Franz Ferdinand at Lee's Palace, Toronto, Canada
Review with set list and photos by Music Vice editor Brian Banks - December 6, 2008

Gig/Concert:

Franz Ferdinand with local support from Born Ruffians

Venue:

Lee's Palace, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date:

December 4, 2008

Headliners:

Franz Ferdinand

In one word:

Nostalgic

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Ahhhhh, Franz Ferdinand. Glasgow-based Franz Ferdinand are probably Scotland’s most significant band since The Jesus And Mary Chain, and so for this gig I felt obliged to ‘represent’ and show support to my fellow countrymen by wearing my Scotland football shirt. I’ll always hold a warm affection for this band - bare with me for a paragraph while I reminisce...

Franz Ferdinand at Lee's Palace, Torontno - photo by Brian Banks

I have fond memories of my first Franz Ferdinand gig, back in January 2004 at Northumbria University in Newcastle. In early 2004 Franz Ferdinand were the band of the moment and that concert was quite literally one of the hottest shows I’d ever attended. 2004 was a really fun time to be going to concerts in the UK, with two very different bands sharing most of the headlines: Franz Ferdinand providing the stylish, oh-so-cool Yin to the cheesy and ‘not taking ourselves seriously at all’ awesome glam-rockin’ Yang of The Darkness. Fast-forward almost five years and The Darkness have long since disbanded; though watch out for a possible comeback for Justin Hawkins and his warbling falsetto with new band Hot Leg. Consider yourself warned. And what of Franz Ferdinand? Well this show in Toronto sold out almost as soon as the tickets went on sale, so they’ve proven to have had longevity and staying power. With their third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, slated for release in January 2009, I was keen to check out this show to see if there’s any chance that 2004 might happen all over again.

There was just one local band in support for this show, Born Ruffians, but I missed their whole set as security weren’t letting those on the photo list enter the venue until ten minutes before Franz Ferdinand took to the stage. Rather bizarrely there was no coat check for this show so I wasn’t able to get in with my ticket and simply leave my camera bag there and then grab it later. Seriously, no coat check in winter? Strange.

After supping a coke in a nearby Burger King for an hour, [it was the nearest place I could find to escape the cold], I returned to Lee’s Palace and made my way inside the concert hall which was cramped to its 600 person capacity. Franz Ferdinand opened with a new song, Bite Hard. From the off, the reception from the audience seemed very tame in comparison to my memories of that storming show back in Newcastle, and also an equally raucous hometown gig at Barrowlands, Glasgow. But hey, Bite Hard is part of the new Franz Ferdinand for 2009, so it’s to be expected that the crowd will be quieter as people hear songs like this for the first time. A solid opener, and certainly following in the same vein of much of FF’s previous work with a catchy chorus, though the lyrics seemed to be on the darker side.

A total of six songs from the forthcoming Tonight album were played during this show. Do You Want To, was the second song of the night and as one of the band’s most known and loved tracks it was assured with a great reception. That standout track from You Could Have It So Much Better broke some up some of the stiffness inside Lee’s and song-by-song the atmosphere grew as Franz Ferdinand played a healthy mix of old and new material. Let’s stick to the new stuff. The next new song Turn It On was pretty cool; a three-minute ascending, slow-to-fast, hushed-to-loud, number.

Live Alone, the next new song, was a taste of something a bit different - Tonight has been rumoured to see the band mix in elements of electronica and dub to their sounds, and this was an example of that. A marauding piece of synth pop rock, given life by the beating-pulse of a bomp-bomp bassline, together with synth keys and guitar that weave in and out of the mix. Frontman Alex Kapranos, clad head to toe in black leather/pleather, sounded a little strained at times, as he sang through the chorus of: “Wherever you are, Wherever is there, You know that I’ll be here, I’ll be here, Wishing I could be there.” That song has a really cool vibe, with the music creating the atmosphere for the simple lyrics to hang over and get stuck in your head. Later on, Katherine Kiss Me, a song destined to be slow-danced and swayed to by many girls at many future Franz Ferdinand gigs.

The final song before the encore was What She Came For. By this time both the crowd and the band seemed properly loosened up. The song ended with an up-tempo finale featuring a guitar solo, and a swaggering Kapranos now seemed more confident, with Franz Ferdinand fully in their stride. This was one of the best songs of the night and the audience were left wanting for more.

"...not really a step in a new direction - it’s more like Franz Ferdinand dipping a cautious toe into the sea of New Sound."

After a few minutes off-stage, Franz Ferdinand kicked off their four-song encore with Ulysses. Of all the new material, this was the one song that sounded like the boldest step into a new direction of sound. Well, not really a step in a new direction - it’s more like Franz Ferdinand dipping a cautious toe into the sea of New Sound. All the new Franz Ferdinand songs I’d heard this night sounded similar to the old Franz Ferdinand stuff. Sure, there are some new elements here and there, but essentially it’s the same guitar-based dance rock that the band have made their name from. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time there’s a risk of it all getting a bit old.

It was not surprising that the band’s older stuff got the biggest reaction throughout their as these are the songs that people are familiar with. In all honesty though, none of the new songs gave the same kind of impact as previous hit singles like Take Me Out or Do You Want To, and I’m not sure if that’s just because I was hearing them for the first time. The last song of the night, This Fire from the band’s self-titled debut album, gave the band a fantastic send-off. It’d had been a good night, but nothing close to those frenzied concerts of 2004. I’m on the fence about the new songs but I’ll definitely be checking out the new record as soon as it comes out in late January, 2009. Perhaps there’ll be a few surprises on that album. If it turns out that Franz Ferdinand become the coolest band around once again, then I will not be complaining - 2004 was a great year, and I’d love to see it repeated.

© Brian Banks

The complete set list in full:

Bite Hard (New)
Do You Want To
Turn It On (New)
Michael
Walking Away
Live Alone (New)
Dark Of The Matinee
Katherine Kiss Me (New)
Take Me Out
40'
What She Came For (New)
Encore:
Ulysses (New)
The Fallen
Outsiders
This Fire

The photos are in black and white for this one, to follow the B&W photography theme of the album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Brian

Franz Ferdinand at Lee's Palace, Torontno - photo by Brian Banks

Franz Ferdinand at Lee's Palace, Torontno - photo by Brian Banks

Franz Ferdinand at Lee's Palace, Torontno - photo by Brian Banks

 

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