Franz Ferdinand
Brooklyn Steel
April 16

Best band of the 21st century?  I say Franz Ferdinand are.  I keep forgetting this fact, and then every 2-3 years they come back into my life and BOOOM – I remember how thick I am, and how much they fucking rule!

Gone is guitarist Nick McCarthy, but besides his good kicks and looks, the Archdukes didn’t miss a beat on their latest franztastic album – Always Ascending – or supporting it live at Brooklyn Steel, a venue new to me, but one I’d be happy to return to.  The only tiny misstep is that they didn’t play my new album fav ‘Lois Lane‘, which was featured at the show the night before.  Can’t win them all, but Franz Ferdinand wins me each and every time!

Setlist – Always Ascending / The Dark of the Matinee / Do You Want To / Paper Cages / Glimpse of Love / Finally /
Michael / Lazy Boy / Stand on the Horizon / Walk Away / The Academy Award / Darts of Pleasure / Take Me Out / Ulysses

Encore - Feel the Love Go / The Fallen / Huck and Jim / This Fire

apologies to the @Gorillaz but @Franz_Ferdinand are probably the greatest band of the 21st century #AlwaysAscending

A post shared by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Apr 16, 2018 at 7:48pm PDT

Yeezus aint got nuttin on or in our ears, cause this stuff did in 2013!!!

Al-bums Sharp-tons!!!

Album of the year / their career

Franz Ferdinand
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

 –

Lady minus Tron =
IT IS SO FCUKING ON!!!

 

Marnie – Crystal World

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Soundtrack of The Year Decade

The Great Gatsby

– 

Punk’d Dafty

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

 

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Tunses For Toonces

‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’ by Skrillex | ‘Call On Me’ by Eric Prydz | ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk | ‘Bullet’ by Franz Ferdinand | ‘Hard Out There’ by Lily Allen | ‘Tainted Love’ by Gloria Jones | ‘I Feel Love’ by Donna Summer | ‘I’m Ready’ by Kano | ‘The Perfect Life’ by Moby featuring Wayne Coyne | ‘Hearts On Fire’ by Marnie | ‘City Rising From The Ashes’ by Deltron 3030 featuring Mike Patton | ‘White Rabbit’ by Mayssa Karaa | ‘The Rain, The Park and Other Things by The Cowsills | ‘Ordinary Love’ by U2 | ‘Young And Beautiful’ by Lana Del Ray | ‘Colours’ by Electric Wave Bureau | ‘Song About A Grasshopper’ by Big Children’s Choir | ‘Stronger Than The Storm’ by Bang 

[d-lode all in one handy zip!!!!!]

(look for ‘Click here to start download from sendspace’)

and a big boo to the one song that made me wish I didn’t have ears – ‘The Blue Umbrella Suite’ featuring Sarah Jaffe

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You Only Once Live!

show of the year - Franz Ferdinand @ Hammerstein

Fleetwood @ Mac Prudential Center Newark

Three Dog Night Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway

Bon Jovi @ Giants Stadium II

Beck @ Prospect Park Bandshell

Travis @ Webster Hall

Global Citizen Festival @ Great Lawn – Central Park

Deltron 3030 @ Highline Ballroom

Elton John @ MSG

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Hear, Dare & Everywear

 

Who Are You?

 

the greatest song about a grasshopper ever done sung!!!!!!!!!

 

Tender Is The Day The Demons Go Away

The Who Concert Disaster 

this poster is juss WOW juss WOW juss WOW juss WOW!!!

–

BADBYE :(

goodbye Sweet Lou

goodbye The Man-Zarek

goodbye The Mac Daddy

goodbye Safe Havens

 

goodbye Self-Toucher

–

and here’s what we stuffed in the past

’12
’11
’10
’09
’08
’07
’06
’05
’04
’03

Franz Ferdinand
Hammerstein Ballroom
October 22nd

Ooh

It’s so good, it’s so good

It’s so good, it’s so good

It’s so good

Ooh

Thems are the opening lyrics to Donna Summer’s classic for all seasons ‘I Feel Love’.  Just hearing them words makes one FEELS good.  They also make you feel love.  And when Franz Ferdinand medleyed Donna’s delight into their own ‘Can’t Stop Feeling’ (hear below), it felt more than good – it felt ecstatic, and the crowd felt love, and everyone sent that love right back to the band, who put on the best show I’ve seen this year (and the best since Pulp’s triumphant RCMH shows)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

hear, here…

Did I somehow forget how blam-mazin’ these Glaswegians were, even after 3 live dips with em - Webster Hall 2004 / free 2006 Myspace(!!!) show at Hammerstein / Roseland 2009????

But I knew what I was getting myself into, after logging hours upon endless hours listening to their latest (which they gave away free to all concert ticket purchasers!!!)

Oh dear lord is this album so FCUKING FRANZTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The fellas played SEVEN out of the album’s ten tracks, and to be perfectly honest, I wish they played all ten (how often would one ever ask for such a thing of a new album and a concert???).  That’s how stellar this album is.  It’s on par with their brilliant debut, and probably as time passes, I will regard it even higher than that one (!!!).  I tells you, it’s the best album of the 10s (that’s not the Daft Punk Tron 2 soundtrack).  Theses no jokes.  These are truths

Set List – Bullet / No You Girls / The Dark of the Matinée / Do You Want To / Evil Eye / Walk Away / Stand on the Horizon / Can’t Stop Feeling > I Feel Love (Donna Summer Cover) / The Fallen / Brief Encounters / This Fire / Take Me Out / Michael / Ulysses / Love Illumination / Goodbye Lovers & Friends 


Encore – Right Action / Darts of Pleasure / Outsiders

Franz Ferdinand
Roseland Ballroom
May 7th

The list was set, and the Glaswegian quartet set it off, more so than Queen Latifah could ever do, but about the same as when we saw em the first time, and a couple o times after that first time, although they say there’s nothing quite like the first time, cept we’d have to say, there’s nothing like the holidays, yet we haven’t seen that film which chronicles the downs and ups of the Rodriguez clan. Even though their new album Tonight is a lil hum-ho and a tad yesterdayish (is that Joy Division we hear?), nothing can stop The Archdukes from raising the roof (new standout trax ‘No You Girls’ and ‘Twilight Omens’ certainly stood out), well besides a bunch of Amish folk who are raising barns and hell!

The When: Thighsday Nite

The Where: El City, Webster Hall, home to many bridge and tunnel folk

The What: Franz Ferdinand knocking the balls to the wall!

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Yep, I’m afraid to admit it, but Franz Ferdie is the real deal, unlike Buster Douglas’ Knockout Boxing on Sega Genesis. They is mos def the greatest thing to be exported from Scotland since Trainspotting. Peace out Strokes, cause yo days are numbered. Hope you didn’t spend the money that your daddy saved up for you.

Long story short: me missed the boat on FF tickets so me was forced into the world of Craig’s List and eBay price gouging. Me was too busy at work to deal with this crap so me girl Megbot stepped up to the plate like she was Cecil “F-in” Fielder and scored some reasonably price gouged tickets. Too bad she must have eaten turkey burgers, cause el Megbot got food poisoning and couldn’t even go to the show!! (insert unhappy face) Enter the Thinker. His a$$ is about to be exported to the land mass known as Europe and what a killer way to send em off, eh? Ich heisse Su-per-fan-tas-tisch!

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Yesterdaze just so happened to be the very beginning of monsoon season in El City and I didn’t wear me rubbers or carry me trusty umbrella. So I got completely drenched on my way to pick up the tickey-ick-ets. To make (family) matters worse, when el Thinker and myself arrived at the venue, we realized that this wasn’t yer daddy’s Franz Fizzlnand concert. The place was packed to the gills with hipsters of all shapes and sizes. Most of them fell under these stereotypes listed on this handy Hipster Bingo board. We had to elbow our way to the bar where we set up shop for the next hour… I mean, FF only has one album of material, so wees weren’t eggspected a 3-hour Phish crap-a-thon. Now I can deal with $7+ beers, but I guess me needs some tips from Mandy Moore if I want to learn how to deal without A/C. El Paso, Tejas needs to be stripped of its newly bestowed title, Swamp-Ass Capital of the US, cause without A/C, my grundle area won that title in about 4 seconds. But hey, this is FF and if they can make all the jaded hipsters dance, then I’m going to shake my a$$ too, like I was in that “Rump Shaker” video by Wreckx-n-Effects.

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The highlights of their energetic, pitch-perfect, hour long set included: the “Hava Neglia” guitar riff in “The Dark of the Matinee”, playing my FFFT (favorite Franz Ferdinand tune) “Tell Her Tonight”, me coming and dancing to their heteroflexible ditty, “Michael” (Editor’s note: ‘Michael’ is such an awful first name, right?), and of course, amassing more swamp a$$ per minute than I did during Coachella Part I, II, or III! Long live frozen chocolate covered bananas!!!