Franz Ferdinand, Photos by MCH | Mushroom Creative
Dust off your chucks and dig out your skinny jeans: Scottish indie rockers Franz Ferdinand are in town.
On a grey and gloomy Friday evening, indie kids of all ages wandered into Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens to a soundtrack straight out of the Black Night Crash glory days, courtesy of house DJ The Knave.
A sizeable crowd turned up early to catch local up and comers Delivery, who did not disappoint. Their sound is a bit shambolic, with garagey guitars and plenty of mid-song gear shifts, but the set was tight and punchy, with “Digging the Hole” and “Baader Meinhof” the standout tracks.
The gardens had packed out and the rain set in by the time Teenage Dads took the stage. Their set of sheeny, radio-friendly pop received a somewhat muted response from the crowd. The band members are probably too young to have been regulars at Black Night Crash, but you imagine they cut their teeth on The Killers, Muse, and, dare we say, Franz Ferdinand.
The mood lifted with the arrival of the headliners. Kicking off with “Dark of the Matinee”, Franz Ferdinand played a thoughtfully curated set of songs old and new that kept the crowd enthused throughout.
Alex Kapranos was a charming and captivating frontperson, strutting and slinking around the stage when not holding forth on the mic. Bouzouki in hand, he gave a shoutout to Melbourne’s Greek community ahead of the rebetiko-influenced “Black Eyelashes”, followed by a commanding performance of the indie disco staple “Michael”.
The crowd’s enthusiasm peaked midway through the show, with the band’s signature track “Take Me Out” feeling like a delightful slice of Glastonbury on a soggy spring evening.
Kapranos called the Royal Botanic Gardens “one of the most beautiful places on earth”, and despite the decidedly Glaswegian weather, the gardens were the perfect setting for this noughties nostalgia fest – comfortable and accessible while maintaining a festival feel in the heart of Melbourne. And what a treat to be home by 11pm after a night of dancing in the rain. Unless anyone’s keen for kick-ons at Pony?
Franz Ferdinand performed at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong peoples, on Friday 28 November.
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