The Verdict: Franz Ferdinand vs. Death Cab For Cutie
As I walked out of the Shaw arena last night, there was a guy with a mike doing an exit poll. He stuck the mike in my face in the usual manner of exit pollers and asked, "Franz Ferdinand or Death Cab?" I breezed past him while I considered the appropriateness of the question. Two Bands, one from Glasgow, the one with the really cool band members, all lean clean lads, with the cool accents, tight jeans, and European braggadocio (don't mean that in a mean way). The one with the tuneful hooky art rock stompers that moves heads and jiggles hips, down to every last song. The same one all the "screaming teens" (thanks to c to the izzo for that term) and doting parents, 90% of the crowd by the way, had come to see. Everywhere you looked, there was a Franz Ferdinand shirt or bag or other piece of memorabilia to be cherished till college. And then there was the other band, the one from Seattle, the one that looked like a geek squad, with the catchy power pop, seemingly nondescript hooks that catch up with you before the end of the song and messes you up like a tornado, the one that middle-age folks like me were silently rooting for but couldn't afford to show love to by doling out 25 bucks for a shirt. This show was billed as a double-headliner, but everyone knew it was really about Franz Ferdinand; they will play the encore, they will get most of the press, they will get most of the cheers. So back to the question-Franz Ferdinand or Death Cab?
Death Cab by a mile. And this is me at my most unbiased. I walked back to the exit poller and said just that.
Hear's a bold statement that explains why. Start: Ben Gibbard has the best live voice ever: Finish. Nasally but solid, resounding but steady, it cut right through the very loud and robust jangle of drums, guitars and keyboard, strong and confident, trained and assured, and delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen live. Nothing could stop it. Not the ferocious playing. Not the audience cheers. Not the sing-alongs. It was crisp, clear and melodious. I left the Shaw with one memory-that voice. But that was not all. Death Cab played like their lives depended on it. You could tell that this was a band that wanted to earn your admiration, they came prepared, the set carefully sequenced, slow songs to follow the smart rockers, delivery very tight. Along with band members Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr and Chris Walla, he delivered a very animated performance, introducing songs from their solid catalogue of releases, songs from when this audience didn't care ("President Of What?"), and just before anyone wondered why, coming back with identifiable singles ("Crooked Teeth") and sing-alongs ("I Will Follow You Into The Dark"), thus satisfying long-time fans and more recent converts. The band moved to and from instruments, doing the keyboard here, picking up the guitars there, drummer Jason McGerr the only constant, until Gibbard joined him for a supercharged and stunning drum solo. Yes, Death Cab shred.
And then the Glasgow boys came on. By the end of it all I was all sweaty and my voice was gone. Damn those catchy, hooky, rocking stompers. I knew all the song lyrics, they strummed their guitars like maniacs, I sang, I stomped. But this was a less than perfect performance. Gone was the fine sequencing of songs I noticed with Death Cab. Gone was the "I'll play my ass off tonight" attitude. These guys knew they had the audience by the proverbial balls and they did not have to do quite as much. But most disappointing was Alex Kopranos' voice. He sounded like me-hoarse and hardly audible. He sang with a frightening Scottish accent that was absent from the records. In some cases, he spoke the lyrics. It was different, not in the "it's a live show, don't expect it to sound like the record" way, but in an annoying "wtf" way. He murdered "Eleanor...". Then he led us on a very bland and unneccesary introduction of the band, preceding each introduction by asking, "Do you wanna know...?". He seemed unsure at some points whether to slow it down or let it all rip. And they didn't play "Well, That Was Easy". What's up with that? All until the band finally got it together and delivered an explosive encore, leading off with "Jacqueline" and closing with "This Fire" for which Death Cab joined in and there was the most terrific drumming session with about 6 drummers (who knew all Death Cabbers could drum?) going totally ballistic. That was awesome. All said and done, Franz Ferdinand's real talent, live or otherwise, must lie in the songs they write-these songs will move any mountain, spoken, sung, karaoked on American Idol, or even set to acoustics. And the way they strum those guitars.
I cannot fail to mention opening band, The Cribs. The Wakefield brothers have a bright future somewhere in punk rock land, no doubt. They gave an energetic performance and set the right tone for the night. But someone should mention to Gary that you don't stick a cigarette in your mouth, light it up and start puffing at an all ages show-it sends the wrong message about coolness to the teens. Especially if the city has a no smoking in public places policy.
Well, that's it folks. Unfortunately, I have no pics or recordings to post. I went to this show without all the trappings that accompany a modern blogger-I wanted to be free to dance and have fun. And I did. Except for when that guy shoved me in a misguided audience shove. He was lucking I was wearing Axe. I had to keep my cool.
Death Cab by a mile. And this is me at my most unbiased. I walked back to the exit poller and said just that.
Hear's a bold statement that explains why. Start: Ben Gibbard has the best live voice ever: Finish. Nasally but solid, resounding but steady, it cut right through the very loud and robust jangle of drums, guitars and keyboard, strong and confident, trained and assured, and delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen live. Nothing could stop it. Not the ferocious playing. Not the audience cheers. Not the sing-alongs. It was crisp, clear and melodious. I left the Shaw with one memory-that voice. But that was not all. Death Cab played like their lives depended on it. You could tell that this was a band that wanted to earn your admiration, they came prepared, the set carefully sequenced, slow songs to follow the smart rockers, delivery very tight. Along with band members Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr and Chris Walla, he delivered a very animated performance, introducing songs from their solid catalogue of releases, songs from when this audience didn't care ("President Of What?"), and just before anyone wondered why, coming back with identifiable singles ("Crooked Teeth") and sing-alongs ("I Will Follow You Into The Dark"), thus satisfying long-time fans and more recent converts. The band moved to and from instruments, doing the keyboard here, picking up the guitars there, drummer Jason McGerr the only constant, until Gibbard joined him for a supercharged and stunning drum solo. Yes, Death Cab shred.
And then the Glasgow boys came on. By the end of it all I was all sweaty and my voice was gone. Damn those catchy, hooky, rocking stompers. I knew all the song lyrics, they strummed their guitars like maniacs, I sang, I stomped. But this was a less than perfect performance. Gone was the fine sequencing of songs I noticed with Death Cab. Gone was the "I'll play my ass off tonight" attitude. These guys knew they had the audience by the proverbial balls and they did not have to do quite as much. But most disappointing was Alex Kopranos' voice. He sounded like me-hoarse and hardly audible. He sang with a frightening Scottish accent that was absent from the records. In some cases, he spoke the lyrics. It was different, not in the "it's a live show, don't expect it to sound like the record" way, but in an annoying "wtf" way. He murdered "Eleanor...". Then he led us on a very bland and unneccesary introduction of the band, preceding each introduction by asking, "Do you wanna know...?". He seemed unsure at some points whether to slow it down or let it all rip. And they didn't play "Well, That Was Easy". What's up with that? All until the band finally got it together and delivered an explosive encore, leading off with "Jacqueline" and closing with "This Fire" for which Death Cab joined in and there was the most terrific drumming session with about 6 drummers (who knew all Death Cabbers could drum?) going totally ballistic. That was awesome. All said and done, Franz Ferdinand's real talent, live or otherwise, must lie in the songs they write-these songs will move any mountain, spoken, sung, karaoked on American Idol, or even set to acoustics. And the way they strum those guitars.
I cannot fail to mention opening band, The Cribs. The Wakefield brothers have a bright future somewhere in punk rock land, no doubt. They gave an energetic performance and set the right tone for the night. But someone should mention to Gary that you don't stick a cigarette in your mouth, light it up and start puffing at an all ages show-it sends the wrong message about coolness to the teens. Especially if the city has a no smoking in public places policy.
Well, that's it folks. Unfortunately, I have no pics or recordings to post. I went to this show without all the trappings that accompany a modern blogger-I wanted to be free to dance and have fun. And I did. Except for when that guy shoved me in a misguided audience shove. He was lucking I was wearing Axe. I had to keep my cool.
posted by Esquirrel, yo! at 26.4.06
6 Comments:
When I saw them at Constitution Hall, Deathcab closed and FF opened. I said the opposite - Franz owned that venue. Every song was urgent and exciting and when they finally took the huge stage construction apart, the momentum was gone. Deathcab came on to "Sarah" and never got on-track. They were good, but stark compared to the assault the Scots laid down. Only on the singles, and barely there, did Deathcab get on track to competeing.
Good job with the blog. I am assuming you saw the same show I did here in edmonton. and I agree with most of what you had to say. except there was a sh*t load of people there for death cab. I know because the death cab hoodie I wanted to buy was sold out by the time I got to the front of the line. DC was musically better, but Franz ripped the roof off (or whatever) they were better performers, off key a bit but better performers.
That schtick with the introducing the band members has been something they've been doing since their early days. I saw them a couple of times before they'd released their debut single and they did it then. I saw them in Montreal and was duly impressed even though i'd seen them several times before in much smaller venues.
i'd never seen death cab before and didn't know more than a handful of songs and they were good, but in terms of show it was in the hands of FF that night. we didn't get a reappearance of death cab for the drum breakdown though. just Paul, the new guy, and a roadie.
Nope, I counted six drummers, and DCFC guys were there.
I could not see the cribs being able to pull of playing at huge vewnues, i've seen them twice in small venues where they really are at their own, and as far as death cab go they are the best live band ever, good review.
Pardon my narcissism, but it was so nice to be mentioned in this review. Although I'm pretty sure screaming teens have been around since Ricky Nelson or The Beatles, or some shit like that. heh.
Post a Comment
<< Home