Are Franz Electric?

The starting lineup for our show with Franz Ferdinand in Utrecht on Wednesday 28 June 2006 was a blend of youth and experience. The regular power trio were joined up for this potentially tough fixture by veteran jazz blower Ditmer on sax and backing vox, and young pup Gijs on bass and Farfisa, plucked from the youth team known as "Dusty Blinds".


The regulation short soundcheck for the opening act was carried out, but I have to compliment the band members and the staff at the Tivoli for having their shit together, and getting setup so fast that it gave us enough time to rattle through a number of songs.

The show itself I thought was very good. We were tight and energetic, and the response from the audience was extremely positive. Walking out onto the stage and seeing a packed Tivoli was stimulus enough to pull out all the stops. It's always a bit weird to be landed in this kind of situation where you know that the people who are in the hall are there to see the main band, and that means you are always liable to be fodder for the punters. But we did what we always do, played the music that we play, and the kids seemed to like it. It was actually quite bizarre at one point to see a couple of people trying to "sing" along to the chorus of "Texass"! A compliment.



We were joined on the last song "Somme" by Paul Thompson...Franz drummer and father to be. 2 drum shuffle action! Fantastic! A full on aural assault and no prisoners taken.


Many thanks to all staff at Tivoli for all their help and making our stay easy and comfortable, and many thanks to the Franz boys for asking us to play, supping ales with us and adding to the patter....not all of it shite by any means....of the evening.