| Franz Ferdinand w/The Royal We @ Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow |
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| Written by Elz Russell | |
| Wednesday, 27 June 2007 | |
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The second night's Franz Ferdinand gig was the one I had been most looking forward to. After some trouble with the security guards (not believing my friends were eighteen), I went into the venue alone to try and meet the friend with whom I'd attended the previous gig. I found her at the barrier, and thankfully was able to slip through the crowd and secure a place next to her directly in front of Alex. The support act for the night was another Glaswegian band called The Royal We. This six-piece's set lasted for barely twenty minutes and they only played one song per member; however, they put on a very good show for the short time they did perform and I was glad to finally have the opportunity to see them live. The frontwoman and lead singer, Jihae (A.K.A. Skipper G-Nut, A.K.A. Mrs Bricolage's frontman) has a stage presence to rival Kate Jackson of the Long Blondes and Lovefoxxx of CSS combined - and a skirt short enough to rival Gwenno of the Pipettes. Her outright screaming on French Legality went down very well. They played three songs I knew and three I didn't, all of which were excellent. I'm very happy they now have a record deal and are likely to be releasing something soon. Watch out for this band. They deserve to be huge. Setlist: I Hate Rock and Roll Three Is A Crowd That Ain't My Sweet Love Willy All The Rage French Legality Franz Ferdinand once again came out at around nine thirty. They'd changed the setlist slightly from the previous night, choosing now to open with their debut album opener, Jacqueline (this also meant that Come On Home had been cut from the set). The song, of course, went down incredibly well with most of the audience singing along audibly during the quiet first verse. Alex paused during the introduction to the next song, Anyone In Love to plug the Grand Ole Opry - "You'll not find a venue in Glasgow that sells beer as cheap as they do here." - to the appreciative cheers of those who'd already partaken. As Franz progressed through their set (Paul sticking to drums once again on walk Away, Nick managing to play the keyboards on Shopping For Blood slightly better than he'd previously managed), it became clear that they'd relaxed back into performing and were definitely better than they'd been the previous night. The crowd seemed to pick on it too, and both new and old songs got a better reaction than they had on Monday night. There was definitely more interaction with the audience. Alex joked that Nick had been practising his piano especially, and we were even treated to an explanation of the German expression "an English goodbye", the title of one of the new songs, which is apparently that only the English are rude enough to leave a party without saying goodbye to anyone (as an English girl myself, I think I'll be keeping schtum on the subject). Only a few songs went by without a bit of banter between them. The highlight of the gig for me, however, was Nick's return for the encore. I couldn't quite believe my eyes at first, but no, they weren't lying to me. He really was wearing a purple velvet cape, possibly to be a keyboard wizard for Turn It On (though frankly, who has any idea what Nick is thinking?). I couldn't get my camera out of my bag fast enough to get more than a few poor photos, sadly, but the image has been burnt into my brain for all time. Nick's quirkiness never fails to improve a show tenfold. He took it off for the final song, Outsiders, probably because he must have been sweltering under the lights with it on. No one was pulled up out of the audience for Outsiders that night, sadly, though it was still brilliant from where I was standing, despite having some girl's elbow in the back of my head. There was a massive crush at the end, moreso even than the one during Take Me Out, as everyone rushed forwards to try and get setlists, plectrums and drumsticks, so I wasn't able to get away from the barrier until about five minutes after Franz had left the stage (not without a setlist, a drumstick and a plectrum, mind), where I was pleased to find the two friends I'd left outside after their ID issues earlier in the evening. They'd got in after all and the entire night was a success, with an even better show than I could have hoped for. Setlist: Jacqueline Anyone In Love* Walk Away Shopping For Blood The Dark of the Matinée A New Thrill* Take Me Out English Goodbye* The Fallen 40' Your Favourite Lie* Michael --- Turn It On* Outsiders |
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