Thanks to Gadget I was able to attend my first Franz Ferdinand concert. They’ve worked together with Just Because to bring the legendary Scottish band to Zurich. What I love about Just Because concerts is that they publish the times late afternoon. This means you can actually plan your evening and know when to be there and how long you need to wait.
When it was announced that Crimer was the support of FF I was so looking forward to see him too. I’ve heard so much about him and I gotta say he didn’t disappoint. The three lads on stage put on a great show of a mixture between Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and maybe David Bowie. I really liked their 30 mins performance and honestly he gave his best. The dance moves were crazy and people warmed up perfectly for the main act.
I am completely honest with you guys now. I knew Franz Ferdinand but I don’t think I have ever listened to a song… I thought they’d be rock – rock like Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs or The Killers. But they were so different to what I was expecting. They had this kind of 80’s vibe going. Yes, they were rock but not too hard core. At 9 o’clock the perfect party could start when the band took the stage. I was shocked I didn’t expect them to be this old haha But hey they were famous when I was little so what did I expect?! 😀
With the title track to their newest record „Always Ascending“ they opened the 90 mins show. I really couldn’t get my head around the fact that I was expecting something completely different. The people loved it and were already dancing and singing. „Walk Away“ and „Lucid Dreams“ were next and I really loved the atmosphere. Plus you could sense that the lead singer Alex Kapranos knew what he was doing. The kind of energy and presence he was presenting cannot be taught. You just have it or you don’t.
I really liked the song „Lazy Boy“ which was followed by „Glimpse of love“ and „No you girls“. I went to the venue Halle 622 without preparation and to be honest I started to like this. I used to listen to every song and get as much info on the band as possible beforehand but I learned that sometimes you need to surprise yourself. What I love is to check out the songs after the gig. Memories of the concert will flood in and you have an automatic connection to the song.
Franz Ferdinand continued with „The Dark of the Matinee“, „Lois Lane“ and „Do You Want to“. I felt like I knew the latter but I couldn’t singalong to so it must have been a distant memory 🙂 Before the crowd went wild for „Take me Out“ the band played „Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow“. Lots of hands and people jumping around and singing along which made for a great party and an amazing atmosphere. After witnessing two DJ gigs at this venue I was so glad to see a rock band play.
Their newest single „feel the love go“ (which you can also find on my Spotify playlist: Kekoas Korners Favourites) was another one that sounded familiar. This made for the perfect time to introduce the band members to everyone. Alex Kapranos asked the Zurich audience:
Do you feel the love?
And of course we felt the love. We felt the love for Boyb Hardy, Paul Thomson, Julian Corrie and Dino Bardot! „Love Illumination“ and „Ulysses“ completed their great 80’s rock set. A few mins after 10 Franz Ferdinand left the stage for their long encore. I was really tired but I enjoyed the whole concert so they deserved to come back to a huge applause/roar from the crowd. The people partied even more for „Paper Cages“, „Jacqueline“ and „Huck and Jim“. The cherry on top was „This Fire“. Eeeeveryone knew the song and was dancing like crazy. Almost at the end Franz Ferdinand asked us to kneel down and everyone did it only to jump up for the chorus! The atmosphere is hard to describe but you can have a look at the highlight in my instagram profile. Let me tell you this. If you weren’t there you missed out on a great party!
Have you been to the Franz Ferdinand gig? Let me know your experience in the comments below.
