Franz Ferdinand @ Liberty Hall (Lawrence, KS), 9/21/05 Sep 23 '05    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line The bottom line's got nothing on Scotland. It's only once in a rare while that I get to go to a good, solid concert that includes a band that I care about. It's been just a smidge over a year now since my last, so I thought it was just about time I get my music needs fulfilled. Of course, after the devastation of missing Muse in May, I need to turn to another one of my absolute favorite bands. And gee, what luck! FRANZ FERDINAND, the new Scottish gentry band, is coming to Kansas. $60 and three energy drinks later, I'm rocking out to one of my favorite bands in one of my favorite places. the lineup FRANZ FERDINAND, with special guests PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES and CUT COPY. When you drive into downtown Lawrence, you can hardly imagine where some place like the Liberty Hall would be, and once you get there, you can barely see where it fits. Tucked neatly on the corner of Massachusetts Street, you can barely pick it apart from one of the many stores that surrounds it. Once you get inside, you can choose from either ascending the stairs to the balcony or go straight to the barricades, not more than three feet from the stage. The ceilings are decorated with awesome celestial paintings and ambient lighting. The hall also doubles as a movie theater on the weekends, showing indie or otherwise "unknown" films. Liberty Hall only seats about 1,000 and is the ultimate in intimate concert halls. The show was scheduled to start at 7:30 with an Australian band called CUT COPY. I had never heard this band, but heard that they were dance-rock, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I made sure to get there early to secure my spot on the barricades. I was on the left side of stage, so close to the stage that I could reach over and pull the amp off. Around 7:45, the lights went out and the blue glow of the band's turntables illuminated the small room. There are only three guys in the band and I was surprised to see no bass player at the beginning of the set. Throughout their songs, all I really noticed was that the lead singer spent most of his time at the turntables, synthesizing every single noise that came out of the speakers. It was like Radiohead meets the world of DJ's and turntables. I honestly didn't know what to think of them because there was very little singing going on with this band. Other than that, they were decent, but nothing I'll remember for the rest of my life. Next on the line-up was PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES. I had listened to their 2003 album once or twice, but never really thought much of it for some reason. Their set time was 8:00, but they didn't start until ten till nine. The crowd was getting restless by then and the 21-and-over's were starting to get a little tipsy. Chaos ensued. By the time the band actually started, the only thing I could think of were the riots that were likely to take place by the time Franz took the stage. The band is made up of two lovely ladies on the keys and lead vocals and three guys on the guitars and drums. Our leading lady seemed to have quite a fan base in Lawrence, or so says the drunk guy behind me who was absolutely enthralled with her. The songs that I had heard before sounded about five times better live than they did on the album, and the new songs were fantastic. The one song that really interested me included an accordion and a really unique sound that I have trouble describing. Needless to say, I will be buying Pretty Girls' new album when it's released this winter. The hall was really filling up right after Pretty Girls' set and the air started getting thick. Some guys behind us started raving about how amazing the new Franz album was and named off songs that weren't even on the track listing. Everyone was starting to get wild and loud, screaming over the P.A. that played local bands' music. And as expected, the band started nearly an hour late. The true show was just about to begin. The lights flicked off, the backdrop revealed the four faces of Franz Ferdinand, and the crazed fangirl in Allison was unleashed! There's just something about Alex and the gang that is so alluring and charming that you can't look away, and yes, stop screaming like you're a third-grader seeing NSYNC. The set kicked off with Jacqueline, which is in my opinion, the BEST song you could ever start off with. The crowd sang along note for note all the way through several songs off the old album (especially Take Me Out) until they dealt out some new songs. Once the intro to 40' was played, the riots began. Crowd surfing, crazed moshing and very angry security guards were brought up right in the middle of that song. There was something so contagious right after 40' that no one was left standing idly by. Franz finished out their set and came back out for a very looong encore (no complaints here, just saying!) which included my absolute favorite new song of their's, Evil And A Heathen. The entire set was absolutely mind-blowing and being a mere three feet away from Nick and Alex only made it that much more awesome. So, in conclusion, Franz Ferdinand is the best thing to come out of Scotland yet. After seeing some television performances of their's, I wasn't too impressed, but you really can't hold a candle to their live show. I couldn't believe the power they had over the audience and the energy they brought to Kansas. If you're going to see one concert this year, make it this one, because they won't be in the country for long. ALLISON'S VERDICT: Cut Copy - *** Pretty Girls Make Graves - **** Franz Ferdinand - ***** FRANZ FERDINAND'S SET: Jacqueline - Dark Of The Matinee - Take Me Out - Tell Her Tonight - Auf Asche - Do You Want To - The Outsiders - Walk Away - Evil And A Heathen - 40' - Michael - The Fallen - I'm Your Villian - This Boy - What You Meant Cut Copy is: Dan Whitford Tim Hoey Mitchell Scott Bennett Foddy Joel McKenzie (not sure which three played at this show) more info @ cutcopy.net Pretty Girls Make Graves is: Derek Fudesco Andrea Zollo Nathen Johnson Nick DeWitt Jason Clark more info @ prettygirlsmakegraves.com Franz Ferdinand is: Alex Kapranos Nick McCarthy Bob Hardy Paul Thompson more info @ franzferdinand.co.uk / franzferdinand.org PICTURES OF THE CONCERT AVAILABLE HERE: http://photobucket.com/albums/b126/omgitsallisoff

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