I'm going to Italy tonight! I haven't returned to the motherland since 2000 when I studied abroad so I'm pretty excited, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend at Michaela's house in Spresiano. I haven't spoken much Italian in the last five years though so like always this should be interesting.
Last night was Franz Ferdinand at Alexandra Palace. It was a mission and a half to get there. I took the bus from Camden Road up to Finsbury Park in a constant state of panic that I was missing the stop since I had never been there before, plus we were stuck in crazy rush hour traffic which stressed me out. I eventually met up with ICSC Michaela (not to be confused with Italian Michaela) and we hopped on the Wagn train (yes, Wagn, not Wagon, I don't get it.) I tapped my Oyster in for it and never tapped out (future note for everyone, this train's a freebie, and I'm totally going to get yelled at next time I go to the Underground office for not completing my journey again.) We then hiked (literally) to the venue. If I'd known it was so rugged I would have worn my Timberlands, not sneakers!!
This place was HUGE for an indoor venue. It's crazy that they sold it out four nights in a row. We got there just as the Rakes had started, but I had a stomach ache and only had the patience to hear '22 Grand Job'. They had some notable guitar riffs and the singer is quite dancy and charismatic, so I think if I had felt better I would have enjoyed them more.
Editors came on and I liked them a bit better this time as I'm much more familiar with their songs now. No sign of their parents though.
In between sets, they were showing a slow motion video of the four Franzs getting their hair cut; strange concept but I couldn't take my eyes off it. When they came onstage I wasn't really digging Nick and Alex's hair and outfits either - McCarthy (also known as Frosh, as he looks like a combination between Francis and Josh) looked like a cowboy with that shirt and Kapranos looked like a futuristic flight attendant. The drummer grew his hair though and it actually looked great!
They came on, opened their set with 'This Boy', dropped the drapes and headed into 'Come On Home'. I was liking the huge red question mark behind them during 'Do You Want To', and the crowd has serious love for that song (probably because of my cameo in the video.) My highlights were 'Eleanor..' and 'Take Me Out'. I think Franz may be one of the few bands who I actually don't mind if people in the audience sing along to, they just give out this feeling of universal love. This was the setlist, courtesy of NME:
'This Boy'
'Come On Home'
'Do You Want To'
'Auf Achse'
'I'm Your Villain'
'Matinee'
'The Fallen'
'Walk Away'
'Eleanor Put Your Boots On'
'Take Me Out'
'Darts Of Pleasure'
'You're The Reason I'm Leaving'
'40ft'
'Michael'
'Jacqueline'
'Evil And A Heathen'
'Outsiders'
'This Fire'
I'll probably be blogging from Italy as I'm mostly gonna be just hanging out.
Ciao peeps!
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5 comments:
editors are playing mercury lounge. they worth seeing?
yes welshsoxfan... definitely worth seeing... they've got a lot of energy live, lead singer is very charismatic and they've got some really decent tunes.
What an end to the week: Franz then Italy. What, no gig photos of cowboy McCarathy and flight attendant Kapranos? Anyway, have a (warm?) fun time in Italy!
What, exactly, is entailed in "tapping the oyster?"
Yes, go see them, I'm so jealous you get to see them at Mercury!!!
Unfortunately didn't have my camera at the show, arrgh.
An Oyster card is like a Metrocard, except you have to tap it onto a sensor when you enter a train and also when you exit it (that way it determines how much your fare costs based on what zone you've traveled to.) Some trains don't always have sensors that you have to tap, or you can just pass through the gates (hence, my excitement over "free" trains.) This last time I tapped in and didn't tap out b/c I didn't see a sensor, and the guys who refill your card at the tube stations always get angry when you don't complete your journey. Technically they are supposed to charge your card the maximum amount but you can sweet talk your way out of it. Hope that made sense.
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