Franz Ferdinand sells out First Avenue on Always Ascending tour

Scottish dance rock band Franz Ferdinand graced Minneapolis with their first Twin Cities show in years. On tour in support of their 2018 release, Always Ascending, the Glasgow-based band sold out First Avenue quickly and unsurprisingly. Having never seen Franz Ferdinand live before, I had high expectations going in to this show. Unfortunately the show fell flat, mostly due to a lame crowd.

The band opened with the title track to Always Ascending and it had good energy, but it soon became obvious that the crowd made up mostly of half-drunk forty-somethings who probably don’t get out much, were there to hear the radio hits. “Take Me Out” from the band’s fantastic 2004 self-titled debut brought the biggest applause late in the set, even when the band seemed to be going through the motions. Earlier, “Glimpse of Love” from the new album had potential to be excellent, but the crowd was nearly motionless even after singer Alex Kapranos bounced around the stage prodding the crowd with “come on!”.

Franz Ferdinand is a great band, but in the end, their show at First Avenue fell flat like a deflated balloon. The band drove the show in one gear with little fluctuation in dynamics. And the crowd seemed more interested in the two or three radio singles they knew than the show in its entirety. That is unfortunate for a band who rocks huge festival crowds on a fairly regular basis. Franz Ferdinand at First Avenue could have been a lot better.

The Washington D.C. band Priests opened with an excellent set. Although the crowd wasn’t into it, the band rocked a high-energy quirky punk-edged set and I hope to see them again soon.