Franz Ferdinand

When the Franz Ferdinand gig rolled around last Friday I have to say I was not particularly looking forward to it. I'd seen them originally last August supporting Interpol, shortly before the "Darts of Pleasure" demo was released and really since that time had actually put me off. Last August they were hungry for success. Now, in April, they'd achieved it. Plus, the album was not as good as I'd expected. Catchy, yes, but not so much a timeless classic. That said, after vaguely considering selling my ticket for stupid amounts of money, I decided to go in and see the gig afterall.

Now, to set the stage, the Manchester Academy is either the best gig venue ever or the worst. Most times the sound is TERRIBLE. The visibility, especially for someone as short as myself, is pretty bad unless you can get right near the front, and when going to see a band like Franz Ferdinand, where you know it's going to be a young and very excitable crowd, going to the front is not necessarily appealing. I don't always want to come away from a gig with bruises. But, with poor sound and poor visibility, if you can't see, you may as well stay at home and listen to a bootleg. However, some of the best gigs I've ever been to have been at the Academy (usually when I was right at the barrier), so you just never know.... In any case, we ventured down the front, and a good job we did too. Both opening acts were fantastic - which is unusual but seems to be getting more frequent - and we managed to get ourselves in the middle of a pack of small females so I knew I wouldn't be battered to death by drunken blokes twice my size.

By the time FF came out, the crowd was pretty much in a frenzy, and with reason. The band looked sharp and sounded sharper. They played the entire album and then some, and each and every song sounded far superior in a live setting. The energy from the stage and the enthusiasm from the audience translated well and it always helps when you can tell that a band want to be performing. Highlights for me included "Matinee," even though I'd found the song quite irritating previously, and "Darts of Pleasure", which is my personal favourite - even though I prefer the original rough version to the shiny over-produced album version. That's probably why I liked it better live. Their live sound has a slightly rougher edge, whereas on record they sound a bit less emotionally charged. When you can see the expressions on the musicians faces, and when everything is played like it's the most urgent and important task in the world, then it's hard not to get caught up in the spirit of it all.

It was much easier to see in a gig-setting why the music press have been spending so much time raving about Franz Ferdinand. My only real gripe was that the actual set was very short, but I suppose the band don't have a huge number of songs - the album itself isn't even 40 minutes. It certainly did what touring bands want - it got me to go back and play the album again. Plus, I am now looking foward to seeing them again in 3 weeks time when they open for Morrissey. If they can fill an arena with their songs then they probably are destined for great things.