Franz Ferdinand in Madrid: a night of infallible hits – Revista Ladosis

The Scottish band offered a seamless concert as part of the Hits to The Head tour, a kind of turning point in their career

Franz Ferdinand
Concert at Wizink Center, Madrid

(October 26, 2022)

There are infallible musical formulas. One of them is that of Franz Ferdinand. The Scottish band has been showing for 20 years that a consistent validity can be maintained starting from the post-punk premises of danceable rhythms, seasoned with fantastic vocal melodies and urgent and effective guitar riffs. To this should be added a distinctive stamp in many of his compositions, which are the brief pauses in the midst of fast-paced rhythms.

It has changed Franz Ferdinand since his triumphant irruption with “Darts of Pleasure” in 2003 and the incredible self-titled LP starting in 2004? Yes and no. The expressive voice of alex capranos, as well as his charismatic presence on stage, has maintained a consistent line ever since, without losing power. Also the magnificent bass of Bob Hardy has been there as a common thread.

However, in 2016, after that very interesting album with Sparksthere was an important break with the departure of Nick McCarthy, co-founder guitarist and co-responsible for most of the compositions of the first four albums. Since he was also taking care of the synthesizers, he was replaced by the rhythm guitarist dino bardot and the keyboard player julian corrie, who sometimes also plays guitar. FF went from quartet to quintet.

With that formation they approached Always Ascending (2018), whose sound did present differences, with greater emphasis on electronic sonorities and less on guitars, without ceasing to be the Franz Ferdinand bouncy and catchy that we knew.

The changes did not stop. In 2021, another of the four founders, drummer Paul Thompson separated amicably from the group and symbolically and publicly ceded the drumsticks to audrey taitwho has already recorded the two singles (“Billy Goodbye” Y “Curious”) included in the compilation Hits to the Head (2022), which is the leitmotiv of this tour, a kind of account cutoff and the beginning of a new story. Tait showed tremendous solvency, making Thompson not to be missed.

Naturally, all the songs on the setlist are part of Hits to the Headalthough surprisingly it was left out “Darts of Pleasure”.

The concert was non-stop thanks to the fact that the songs, with exceptions such as the last song, go straight to the point. There are no long instrumental dalliances, no extensive solos. Of course, Kapranos frequently interacts with the public, while the bass serves as support.

The ideal starts with “The Dark of Matinee”, one of the four themes of the debut, tuned everyone from the first chords, after which a kind of veil was released that hung over the stage. And immediately, the entire Wizink was infected.

The sound was perfect from the start, powerful, but not deafening.

The lights were always the main extra musical support, since there were no visuals. The aesthetics of the stage, sober and sufficiently striking, included a giant backing with the image that accompanies the album cover, amplifiers with the name of each member and small tables where they frequently climbed.

The first triad was completed by “Not You Girls“, of Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009) with its infectious bass, and the excellent new piece “Curious”, with which they somehow recover the sound of the first albums.

“Are Franz Ferdinandfrom Glasgow, Scotland”, was something that Kapranos repeated, trying to distance himself from the erratic England of today, whose isolation from Europe drags the Scots even unintentionally and whose politics have been classified as appalling.

The melodic midtempo”Walk Away”, from the fabulous second album You Could Have It So Much Better2005, took us back to that magnificent moment at the beginning of this century when a new generation of bands led by Arctic Monkeys Y FF, with a sound halfway between post-punk and 90s Britpop, brought Great Britain back to the fore. It was widely sung.

“RightAction” reactivated the springs of many attendees, thanks to a playful rhythm. This is one of those pieces in which the pauses to resume the dance are eloquent.

The second of the new pieces, “Billy Goodbye”, it did not seem so new, it is so catchy and so easy that the public sang it. The synth played a very important role

Kapranos praised “the siesta”, saying it is a good practice to replenish energy and be able to endure the night jog. And without anesthesia they threw us “Do You Want To”, undoubtedly one of the highlights of the concert, with everyone dancing (or jumping) and singing, while Alex pulled the strings, lowering the intensity and then returning to collective madness. Great song where there are, with great work of audrey taitwho brings a fantastic groove.

And so they continued, alternating pills from each album. The first of two that played from Always Ascending (2018) was “Glimpse of Love”, with a funky spirit, which was accompanied by an effect of disco lights.

And then, “Evil Eye“, of Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (2013). That combination of albums followed with “Always Ascending” Y “Love Illumination”, the first with great strumming guitars and intense red lights, and the second, a kind of punk rockabilly with a catchy vocal melody and an effective synth solo. The public clapping and singing made this one of the most enjoyed moments.

We are all, without exception, ready for the sirloin and the Iberian secret. The acceleratedThe Fallen”, served to introduce Hardy, and give way to the overwhelming “take me out”, a true collective celebration, so impressive that Kapranos’ voice was not heard. Or maybe he stopped singing and we didn’t notice. It is probably one of the most recurring songs in the lives of all those present for 18 years.

Franz Ferdinand I knew it and they spun it with “Ulysses”, whose “La, la-la-la-la / Ulysses / I found a new way / I found a new way, baby” sounded very hard.

The fake ending was with the funky”Outsiders”, with a superb bass along Bill Wyman in “TE Echo de menos” (Some Girls1978), which ends with Tait playing timpani and the rest playing drums.

After a few minutes, the quintet returned to give us a memorable encore that began with the powerful electro rock “Lucid Dream” -very primal scream-, with a brutal set of lights, and continued with the inevitable “Michael”, with the voice processed in plan John Foxx with the first ultravox.

To then close in a tremendous way with “This Fire”, and as its concise letter says, the fire got out of control. In an extended version with the guitars interplaying, Kapranos asked the audience to crouch down as the decibels dropped, before exploding and ending with all the electricity at full blast.

Franz Ferdinand confirmed that it is back without losing its punch, while Kapranos, Hardy and their new partners reaffirmed that they are masters of melodic and danceable post-punk.

Juan Carlos Ballesta

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