Franz Ferdinand - Live Report
So I finally saw Franz Ferdinand live! *___* I mean, I saw them in 2006 when they opened for U2, but it didn't really count because I was terribly far from the stage, the audience didn't care much for them and made noise/talked while they played and they didn't turn the big screen on so we could see something from the stage. ç___ç They looked like ants. And this time they came back with their new tour and São Paulo was their last stop in Brazil.
It's hard to think of a more acclaimed band. o_o I mean, critics and fans love them alike and I think they deserve so much praise, really. Their concert was held at Via Funchal, a very good live house I had never been to - clean, huge, well-organised to the point you could see the stage clearly from any place in the house. And it sold out! 8D Only in São Paulo they had 6.000 people for them, me and my friends included. I didn't see the opening band - have no idea of who they were 8D - but FF didn't take long to appear, stepping onto the stage at a quarter past 10 PM. :3
The audience lights went out, the stage lights went on, the instruments were ready and Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy and Paul Thomson came onto the stage! The crowd cheered madly, of course, and without delay they launched into "Bite Hard", the first song of the night and one of the best tracks from their last album. It was nice to start off the night with something so upbeat and "jump-y"? XD I think I was about 15 metres from the stage (but I suck when trying to measure distances u_u) but I could see everyone on the stage very well, except for when someone taller blocked my view with their heads. >> And the chorus of this song is so catchy, I was jumping all the time and trying not to fall over the steps and holding my purse as I contributed to the sore throat I have until now by screaming "Bite haaaard / It's a broken smile breaking their hearts / Breaking their mind / biiiite haaard~~". xD
And the next song was "The Dark of the Matinée"! ♥ IT IS MY FAVOURITE! *___* And there I went, jumping and yelling the chorus with everyone dancing and singing together. This was only the second one of the night and I could already tell that it was very hot inside, despite of the A/C I could feel occasionally when I raised my arm. o_o' My friend said earlier that she thought the live house was rather empty, bur when we looked at the crowd (even before FF was on stage) later we realized it was packed. And it only got WORSE when it was time to jump, as usual. XD
I was pissed when people started to smoke, though. -___- Despite the bazillion warnings and the laws, there were still people smoking in the crowd, and not just your usual cigarettes - marijuana, too. Argh. As if the normal ones weren't bad enough. X___X I was SO mad and desperate to find a security guard or a staff member from the place to try to get those ANNOYING people to put their cigarettes out, but too many people prevented me from going after help. ç__ç Back to the concert, Alex grabbed the mic after "The Dark of the Matinée" and simply said "isso aí, mano", in Portuguese, with this adorable accent (what can be roughly translated as "that's it, bro!". XD). He also thanked us with "obrigado" ("thank you" in Portuguese) and he pretty much said that after EVERY song. *___* So cute. My friend's cousin and I were talking about that and I'll refrain from writing those comments down for risk management purposes, but they were hilarious. 8D
The next song was "No You Girls" (according to this setlist. o_o But it's fan-made, so I'm guessing it might have some mistakes). And it was exactly the song I quoted on my Twitter when I was heading out to the live. *____* I'm much more this song than its reprise in "Katherine Kiss Me", and wow, EVERYONE WAS SINGING IT. It's always nice to hear such a nice choir of fans singing together. ♥ I love the lyrics of this song and it was madly cheered.
Next we had "Tell Her Tonight", and I distinctly remember thinking how funny it was that two songs about girls came one after the other (and I could SWEAR that those two songs are switched in the setlist published online). I think this is one of their less remarkable songs from the first album, but it was very nice live! :D The chorus is strangely addictive, but not as creative as the others. By the way, they're so good at making good songs, aren't they? They might not make one hit after another, but it goes like my friend said: if any song from theirs make an appearance on your iPod's shuffle, you will NOT skip it and will probably listen to it until the end. Amazing.
The next song was "Walk Away", which was performed differently: Nick and Alex asked us to wave our arms from one left to right, slowly and in sync with them on stage. Cute! I remember seeing my friend's boyfriend behind me waving his arms in the wrong way and correcting him. 8D It was a much slower version than the album one, even during the chorus. A very welcomed calm moment after all that craziness from the beginning. XD
And then we had this MC where Alex said something about being sick and later I found out that it was true. O_O On his Twitter account he said how he had a fever and how bad his tonsils were after the concert, the poor thing. .__. What only makes him much more special for having performed so well in such health conditions! *bows to him* And in the ending of the MC he said "and here's what I said to the doctor: When I woke up tonight I said I'm gonna..." and then EVERYONE started singing together the lyrics of "Do You Want To?" and there we went jumping again. *___* This one was longer than the studio version and the final bit with that "lucky, lucky / you're so lucky" was left for the crowd, which sang it a capella for a good while before Alex joined us again and finished the song. :3 Beautiful! I remember them playing this tune back in 2006, but I enjoyed it much more now. xD
"The Fallen" came next! ♥ I think this is my favourite music at the moment. *__* I'm particularly fond of the first lines where they sing "Well, what's wrong with a little destruction?" and then the "You are the word, the word is 'destroy'" line later. *hearts forever* And I've also used this song in a RP comm not long ago, mwahaha. I find it kind hard to sing along to this song with Alex because he sings too FAST and the Scottish accent is one of the worst ones for me to understand. ç_ç But my friend, who's a very able English teacher, also had trouble getting every and each one of his words, so I was slightly relieved to see that the problem wasn't only me. We both agree that we'd rather have Irish accent over Scottish accent, despite the majority of people claiming the opposite in terms of difficulty. And remembering my English class times, I used to abhor the accent from Liverpool, also! @_@ So impossible!
They broke into "What She Came For" and dude, this is one of their best songs from the last album and VERY GOOD live. *___* I loved the way Alex spread his arms before singing "I've got a question for you / I've got a question for you" and how him and Nick would raise their hands to make the number 5 when they sang "five minutes time". I like to actually dance to this song, especially during the chorus where you can pause and sing "no question / no doubt"! And I'll admit that I was pretty tired to jump already. 8D And the worst thing was that with all the jumping I started to sweat and this combined with the eyeliner I use every day and my contacts made my eyes water and sting a lot. @___@ And there was no way I could get them off in the middle of the crowd, so I endured. ç__ç It was so hard when they turned on the crowd lights and it got too bright, guh. >>
And finally, what everyone was surely expecting to happen at one point... "Take Me Out"! :D FF is a very teasing band. XD Instead of playing it quickly and allowing everyone to sing they lyrics they want to scream so bad, they just kept playing that intro and looking at how eager we were to start singing "So if yooou're looooneeeely~~~!" ♥ AND EVENTUALLY WE DID AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I jumped like mad, despite being very tired. XD Alex did mention "São Paulo!" at the ending, too - I vaguely recall him doing something similar in 2006 at the U2 concert (or was it during "Do You Want To?", I forgot. XD I need to re-read the reports, mwahaha).
"Turn It On" was the next song, another one good to dance to. *___* I think they included every remarkable song from their last album. o_o I mean, all the songs I remember listening to and loving right away ended up being featured in the setlist - the exception was "Twilight Omens", but only because it has a special meaning to me. The happy "Turn It On" was followed by "Can't Stop Feeling", which impressed me live. O_O The crowd sang it very loud and clear and I love to see the fans united and singing to the tunes so passionately~. I don't remember when this happened exactly, but Alex asked if we were having a good time and all that jazz. He didn't say much to us, but he was very nice whenever he addressed us in his very cute Portuguese. He also mentioned that this was their fourth time in Brazil and that whenever they came back it just kept getting better and better. ♥ Aa, it's always nice to hear that about your country, I guess. XD
The next song was "Shopping for Blood" and it was the first one I didn't recognise right away. o_o I don't think I've ever heard it before, actually. XD And this is quite impressive because I have this habit of going to concerts without knowing the songs (except for GLAY, of course), so I was really proud of myself for being able to keep track of the setlist on my head. xD It might be just me, but the crowd seemed less enthusiastic about it - so most of the audience either didn't know the song or was just too tired. XDDDD
But we didn't have time to sulk because the next one was... "This Fire"! ♥_♥ Dude, I remember how I couldn't stop listening to this song in 2006 and how I wanted them to play it live (and they did!), and this time a friend of mine wanted to hear it badly (I even poked her on her shoulder to ask if she was happy now they were playing it 8D). And whoa, my other friend jumped so much during this song that her knees were complaining on the next day. XD I too couldn't be still, despite my huge bag annoying me (I had to carry a big one because another friend of mine was supposed to have handed me a book and a CD back to me, but she forgot both. Nice. 8D). And I also used this song before on a RP of mine, mwahahaha.
Finally it was time for "Ulysses", the first song I really liked from "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand". It was a very strong change from the upbeat "This Fire" to the slower "Ulysses", but this song especially struck me as the most similar to the album version. I swear it sounded just like a playback, so perfect! And I love the lyrics! ♥ The crowd reacted well to the tune, singing loudly and I always wonder if people actually got the meaning behind the lyrics/title when they talk about Ulysses not coming home and whatnot. XD Mythology FTW! \o/
And suddenly Nick grabbed a piece of the drum set and raised it on the air, asking for us to clap our hands and all - and we did it. And then staff members came onto the stage and they set up a drum set near the edge of the stage, really close to the crowd (Alex, actually, approached the fans a lot of times and touched them/let himself be touched by them). And I was really excited BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY DID IN 2006 AND I MISSED! When they opened for U2 they too played the drums, together and at the same time after "Outsiders", but they had this strange tent over the drums and I couldn't see anything. Anyway! They played the drums for a LONG while, together, always switching their positions and without letting the tune die and in sync and it was so amazing. I was truly impressed and I figured this was the ending of the concert. :x
After their epic drumming they of course left and we asked for an encore, ne. It was still VERY hot and I took my fan from my purse and started fanning my friend and I. XD I never go anywhere without it and it's so useful in this goddamn awful hot town. x__x My friend's cousin wanted water and she went after it, but FF came back before she returned and we lost her. 8DDD I don't think they rested enough, but they came back with full force and they performed a LCD Soundsystem cover, "All My Friends" - Alex dedicated it to his "Brazilian friends", more exactly the ones from São Paulo. Waah, awesome. ♥ It's so good to feel this... "Reward" for your love as a fan, you know? I've always felt this at the concerts I've attended, except for 2 - and I think this relationship between the artist and the crowd is essential.
The setlist tells me that the next song was "Michael", a song whose lyrics are extremely gay. 8D According to someone on YouTube, Alex wrote it for gay friends. But dude, it's such a nice tune to dance to and sing to, even if it's really quick and make me stumble over the words. XD I LOVED it and the band was wild during this song - and by "band" I mean Nick and Alex, since Bob is visibly more composed and calmer. And then, Alex announced the next one: "Darts of Pleasure" - which I love! Especially the beginning of the lyrics with "You are the latest contender / You are the one to remember" and the chorus itself. On Monday, just before the concert, I was listening to FF nonstop and online on MSN, too. XD So everyone that said "hi" to me there got a FF song in return, the one which happened to be playing at the moment. 8DDD Rapha got "Take Me Out", Victor had "Katherine Kiss Me" and Gê was precisely "Darts of Pleasure"!
"40'" followed, one of the songs I never cared much for from the first album, but it was enjoyable. n__n And calmer, if compared to other songs as well. XD I don't think FF has many ballads, but those "slower" songs were nicely placed in the setlist to give everyone a while to rest, methinks. XD And resting was necessary, since the next one was "Lucid Dreams", the last song of the night.
And it's an epic song. And I always knew they would end with that song, especially because FF's songs are normally short, about 3 or 4 minutes long only and this one goes way beyond SEVEN. XD And live t is... Wow, indescribable. ♥ It starts off as a ballad with synthesizers and whatnot, but it goes on FOREVER and they left the stage one after the other - first Alex, then Nick stopped playing his guitar and walked away, then Bob and Paul remained there, playing for MUCH longer alone, soloing on the drums. AWESOME, DUDE. AWESOME. As he drummed away, the screen behind him displayed a Brazilian flag - those boys know how to make their public feel loved, rite? It's almost a trance-like state you feel yourself in when "Lucid Dreams" ends, it's crazy. I didn't like the song much when I first heard it on the CD, but after seeing it live I've completely changed my mind. XD
Of course they came back to thank us, all smiling and happy. ♥ They threw away drumsticks, guitar picks, towels - Paul actually threw one of his drumsticks VERY FAR, almost where I was standing with my friends, but to the right. XD I've read other people's comments on how they also were very warm to the fans who were at the hotel and gave autographs and took pictures with them - even Alex, despite his sickness. Dude, FRANZ! ♥ I forgot to say that Alex also "introduced" the members during the concert with mini-solos from Paul and Nick, but I don't remember him mentioning Bob. 8D He probably did and I'm the one with the lousy memory, heh.
Once it was over, we found our missing friend (who ended up really close to the stage xD) and we left. It took forever to get the car back at the parking lot due to the overall tiredness, my burning eyes and everything else, but whoa. IT WAS WORTH IT. Every second! The money was well-spent, the company was great and we had a killer setlist! A pity another close friend of mine couldn't make it. -__-
Changing a bit the lyrics from "Ulysses", I can say that last week was wild! ♥