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Franz Ferdinand at Collins Barracks: Scissor-kicking, foot-stomping, phones-aloft rock’n’roll

Band’s power-pop experience brings Collins Barracks’ Wider Than Pictures series to a close with a bang

Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Éamon Sweeney
Mon Aug 28 2023 - 09:04

Franz Ferdinand

Collins Barracks, Dublin
★★★★☆

Franz Ferdinand first played Dublin almost exactly 20 years ago, in August 2003, when they supported Interpol at the Village. Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy, Julian Corrie, Dino Bardot and Audrey Tait are now on the road with a 20-song career retrospective entitled Hits on the Head. Usefully, for a band generally not immediately recognisable to the wider world, their first names are emblazoned on their equipment.

Franz Ferdinand blast straight out of the traps with The Dark of the Matinée, from their eponymous 2004 debut, a blistering reminder of their angular pop prowess – with a timeless Terry Wogan name-check to boot. The show is surprisingly loud for an outdoor one, but the sound is perfectly contained within the courtyard of Collins Barracks, quickly shutting out the strains of Noel Gallagher and company wafting across the Liffey from Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand performing on stage at at The National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan

Walk Away shows the Scottish band can do melancholia in addition to their post-punk dance-floor-filling bangers. The song causes someone in the front row to get a little teary. “Wow, that’s very moving,” a touched Kapranos says. The singer does another showbiz turn on Do You Want To, segueing a story into its opening line, “Oh I woke up tonight I said I / I’ve gotta make somebody love me.” The band fully embrace having fun, a crucial but often overlooked component of live music. Do You Want To also features a middle eight and breakdown to die for, hammed up to the nines with a call-and-response game with the audience.

After a raucous run through their first single, Darts of Pleasure, Kapranos mentions that Irish debut with Interpol. The hits keep flowing, with Michael dedicated to the Long Fella himself, Michael Collins. Take Me Out features one of the contenders for riff of the 21st century, which they perfectly tease with an elongated intro before breaking into an all-out scissor-kicking, foot-stomping, phones-held-aloft anthem.

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The band deploy new songs sparingly, so it’s hard to gauge what their future might sound like. For now, the Franz Ferdinand power-pop experience means they bring Collins Barracks’ Wider Than Pictures series of gigs to a close with a bang.

Éamon Sweeney

Éamon Sweeney, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about music and culture

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