finally saw Franz Ferdinand (+ Futureheads and Delays)

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And what do you know: they are indeed a lot of fun live, if a prime example of style over substance. I really wish they would get pissed off about something. But oh what style!

Opening were the Futureheads, who I actually liked a little better. It was pretty cool to see them in action, doing their four-part XTC yelps, and they kept things moving along nicely with minimal (but breathless, and polite) banter and a frantic count-off between virtually every song. They could be a post-punk tribute band called 1979 Revisted.

The Delays, on the other hand, were more like 1989 Revisited. I haven't heard the album, but live they sounded like very early Stone Roses or something (Lightning Seeds? Las?). And boy did they suck. One of the least inspired sets I've seen in a long time, and the mix of generic melody making and rudimentary sequencer stuff just did not work. Maybe they'll amount to something one day. ILM people seem to like the record. But I seem to recall about half of each "120 Minutes" broadcast being nascent Brit-pop filler of this type.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:06 (twenty years ago)

This echoes my sentiments on seeing these same bands a few weeks ago almost exactly. Watching Franz Ferdinand themselves became a chore after a while-- they didn't do much and Alex Krabappel's leaps off his amp were...Costanzian. I was much more interested in watching the scads of cute female FF fans dancing around me.

― W i l l (common_person), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:12 (twenty years ago)

Sigh. It's quite funny that a review posted on the Delays board contains this quote:

Let me begin by saying the crowd was full of self absorbed non thinking knobs!!!!!!! And that’s being nice about it!

Now at least I know who they're talking about...

― Danger Whore (kate), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:22 (twenty years ago)

the best thing about seeing FF live is all the girls shaking their assess around you. its a wondeful thing.

they are fun live though, even if half if not all their songs are cut from small sections of the same cloth.

― splooge (thesplooge), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:27 (twenty years ago)

Wait, so does that imply I am a "self-absorbed non thinking knob"? I think my problem was I was paying attention and thinking too much! As in, "I think this Delays band was sloppy and totally uninspired, and probably chosen specifically to let down the crowd after Futureheads in advance of Franz Ferdinand, to make Franz Ferdinand look better."

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:49 (twenty years ago)

My buddy said they reminded him of EMF.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 1 October 2004 13:53 (twenty years ago)

hahaha. i got caught up in the FF hype but am now totally sick of hearing and seeing them everywhere. theyre also way too easily relocatable to the late 70s/early 80s and i dont know if its just me, but i find them so robotic and stiff sounding that its starting to annoy me.

― splooge (thesplooge), Friday, 1 October 2004 14:00 (twenty years ago)

(I was talking about the Delays. Again, FF were just fine. No problem there.)

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 1 October 2004 14:16 (twenty years ago)

they are fun live, i admit. i think they need more vibrant production.

― splooge (thesplooge), Friday, 1 October 2004 14:19 (twenty years ago)

i'd thought about going (also to the Chicago show), but a) hate the Riv, and b) i couldn't justify that and the cost just because i wanted to see Graham Coxon.

...who ended up not even coming, so it appears i chose wisely. XD

(i was at both previous Chicago Franz Ferdinand dates, and enjoyed them immensely; they're really fun live. and you HAVE to dance your arse off; there's just no choice. but i didn't need to see them quite so soon again, for that much money, and in a venue i HATE. so it hinged on Graham, really.)

― janni (janni), Friday, 1 October 2004 19:33 (twenty years ago)

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