Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand's eponymous debut album sparked off a resurgence of a style of music buried in the 80's. They were playing V on the verge of their comeback and were the penultimate band on the V stage, playing just prior to The Scissor Sisters.

Franz's funky guitar hooks and bizzarre lyrics give them a unique edge and I often find its easy to switch between loving and hating Franz Ferdinand in a matter of minutes. Lead singer Alex Kapranos, on hand tonight to explain to us that its 'Always better on holiday' dances round the stage with a degree of energy that has been distinctly lacking at this years V.

Crowd pleaser 'Take me out' got the biggest reception, the singles 'This Fire' and 'Michael' not having nearly the same effect as the first single which Kapranos introduced as a song written by Tony Christie in 1942, paying homage to the veteran 'Armadillo' crooner who was also playing at the festival. Kapranos introduced the members of the band along to 'Darts of Pleasure', a song apparently written for a girl he had a crush on when he was 13. The crowd lapped up the chorus and sang along to the German lyrics 'Ich heisse super fantastische, Ich trinke champers mit lachsfisch'.

Franz debuted four tracks from the new album 'You can have it so much better with....Franz Ferdinand', due for release on the 3rd of October. These songs included the new single 'Do you want to', as irritating and catchy as 'This Fire' it is bound to be a winner. 'Evil and a heathen', 'I'm your villain' and 'The Fallen' also featured. 'I've got ten pounds' wasn't in the set list, which was probably a relief for bass player Bob Hardy who supposedly is the man behind the lead vocals.

Over at Chelmsford Franz Ferdinand had joined The Scissor Sisters for an encore of David Bowie's suffragette City. Although Staffordshire wasn't treated to such a suprise Franz's set was highly entertaining and much better than last years performance at The Carling weekend.

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