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Franz Ferdinand rocks Aragon |
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Written by SHAWN FEAKINS / Photos by BARRY BRECHEISEN
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Tuesday, 20 September 2005 |
It sounds unlikely that the current banner leaders of rock would be a band whose fame was fostered by a series of commercials dedicated to portable lifestyle technology porn, but for those concerned that this may be a disqualifying factor one would only have to watch Franz Ferdinand at the Aragon Ballroom to see that their fears are unfounded.
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Franz Ferdinand
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 Entertainment
Art
Aragon Ballroom
Chicago, Ill.
September 20, 2005
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Sounding like the Kinks and the MC-5 had a child raised on disco (and kudos to my friend for that terribly accurate description) the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand found themselves causing a good portion of the Aragon floor to buckle as the audience bounced to the WXRT anthemic "Take Me Out", reminding the other half that "oh yeah, this song is why I'm here..." Franz Ferdinand is hardly a one hit wonder, however, starting with the album opener "Jaqueline" and reading like a primer of British band influences with each harmonic bridge. The show seemed to start slow, but once the radio hits were brought out, The Aragon became a large hopping dance party.
Legs buckled and guitar leaps were made, and it didn't look cheesy because Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy sold it with legitimate enthusiasm as opposed to posing. The real unspoken strength of the band, however, is a killer rhythm section. Paul Thomson maintains a consistent dance rave rhythm while also turning on the testosterone to viciously beat the drums and almost single handedly turning "Cheating on You" into a show stopping number, to name but one. And bass player Bob Hardy consistently lends clean and meticulous licks and hooks for Alex and Nick to shore up their rock star personas.
And they do love those rock star antics, as the four projected 10-foot pictures behind them indicated. Still, this isn't just another brainless rock band. Few popular rock bands would dare write a song like "Michael", let alone close with it (along with the current radio hit "Fire", natch.) If for no other reason, the show was worth the price of admission to see a bunch of straight fratboy types dance like crazy to a hard rocking ode to homosexual male lust. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
