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Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos at Bumbershoot '09
Even before Scottish indie rockers Franz Ferdinand take to the Main Stage on the final day of Bumbershoot ’09, there’s a sense of anticipation about the show that reverberates around the festival. Across its three days Bumbershoot has played host to many great artists, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cold War Kids, Sheryl Crow and a multitude of others, but on Monday night the buzz is about one band only. Clearly word has spread that Franz Ferdinand are about to provide this year’s festival with its defining moment.
Within seconds of the band taking to the stage it immediately becomes clear that they’re more than up to the task, as they launch into recent hit ‘No You Girls’. While some acts during the day had been rather subdued affairs, everyone’s spirits having been dampened by the frequent showers and low temperatures, there’s clearly no danger of that happening to Glasgow’s finest. The area in front of the stage is packed with a music-hungry mob, everyone jostling to get close to the night’s main action, and the security staff are forced to put their crowd control skills to good use.
If the atmosphere is charged before the band appear, however, it quickly explodes thanks to a blistering set of tunes that provide exactly the punk-pop injection that the overcast day needed. As they bounce their way through an impressive catalogue of hits, including ‘This Fire’, ‘Take Me Out’ and recent bass-heavy stomp ‘Ulysses’, Franz Ferdinand strike poses and scissor-kick like they’ve been taking lessons from AC/DC’s recent show at the Tacoma Dome. Their tour with Green Day seems to have given them a new hell-raising attitude, and when lead singer Alex Kapranos climbs the amp stack he looks a far cry from his previous artsy-intellectual image.
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Franz Ferdinand on Bumbershoot's Main Stage
Their only mistake during the entire show is a slight misjudgment when it comes to the setlist, brought about by the festival’s no-encores policy. In recent months they’ve been closing their shows with ‘Outsiders’, morphing it into a manic four-man drumming session that brings the house down prior to their triumphant return to the stage. With no encore allowed tonight, though, they blend the main show and the encore together, with the result that ‘Outsiders’ gets lost in the middle of the set, and the night’s show closes on a slightly less impressive high.
The fact that this is their only mis-step in an hour of non-stop music shows you just how good Franz Ferdinand are, however, and it doesn’t even come close to puncturing the buoyant atmosphere they create. Amidst all the crowd-surfing, jostling masses and teenage hi-jinx, everyone at Bumbershoot’s Main Stage comes away realizing that they’ve just witnessed something truly special. Hopefully someone’s already booking them for next year’s festival.
For more info:
Bumbershoot review: Modest Mouse
Bumbershoot review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Bumbershoot review: Cold War Kids
Bumbershoot review: The Helio Sequence
More Bumbershoot coverage on Examiner.com
Official Franz Ferdinand website
Comments
Modest mouse was the reason so many people were packed in...they just so happen to share a lot of fans with franz
if bumbershoot has a "no encore" rule they should have been smart enough to pull the leave the stage for a few minuets and come back out trick.. And also the headliners on most of the stages DID go over their time and play encores...so there ya go.
After Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse just about put me to sleep... I bailed partway through their show.
Jah - as far as I'm aware, the headliners (ie. the final acts) on each stage were allowed an encore, but at no point did I see anyone else do one. And would you really have wanted them to leave the stage for a few minutes? They only had an hour as it was...
Michael - I don't think you were alone in those sentiments. See my review of of the Modest Mouse show!
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