Burn This City! Franz Ferdinand Rocks DC

Franz Ferdinand just lined us up and sawed us in half with a fierce guitar assault. Unbelievable show. Even more unbelievable were the two girls having a conversation next to me the whole time. I will try to focus on the positives, but the whole Franz Ferdinand opening for Death Cab was/is wearing on me. Ditto D.A.R. Constitution Hall. How can we, as fans, be expected to sit in a seat for Franz Ferdinand? For Franz Fucking Ferdinand? It is the constant knock on D.A.R. and it will continue to be. There is no way around it. The acoustics are brilliant, they light show possibilities endless, but the whole seat thing is tiresome.

Enough about that, we were out of the seats by "Take Me Out," about halfway through, and Franz fans never sat down in them again (although DCFC fans behind Top continually asked him to sit down and he continually told them to "beat it"). They ripped through a large range of songs (the set was about 65 minutes long) and while some of them stayed on the beaten path, Franz took a fair share of them and blew them up, bent them, broke them down and fired them out across the hall in extended versions. Highlights for me were: "The Fallen" (the overlapping guitar riffs were insane), "This Fire" (a complete sonic assault), "Take Me Out", "40 ft.," "Walk Away," "Come On Home" (fantastic!), "Outsiders" (the opening riff kept returning, they stretched this way out, blistering), "Jacqueline," "You're The Reason I'm Leaving," and "Darts of Pleasure." I was really hoping for what I believe is the stand out track on YOU COULD HAVE IT SO MUCH BETTER, "I'm Your Villain," but they didn't deliver. No sweat, I was too wrapped up in everything else they were throwing out there to have any complaints about the setlist.

It was amazing to see these guys a week after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Both bands have two albums out, both are hyped up and critically acclaimed, and yet one truly strived (FF) and the other (YYYs) left me a little confused and disappointed. Franz Ferdinand seemed very at home and very confident. Granted, 9:30 Club was the first show on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs tour and Franz Ferdinand has been going strong on the road for a while now. But, there was a distinct difference. I lost my mind halfway through FF's set, got completely caught up in their dance-rock and I didn't come to until it was all over. "Outsiders" was absolutely brilliant live. Amazing. At one point there were three people with sticks working the kit from all sides. It sounded phenomenal.

They elevated the stature and power of so many of their songs in a live setting, I am throroughly looking forward to these guys at Coachella. I am sure they will have the whole audience captivated as those who aren't there to rock or get rocked have other stages to go to and other bands to see. As Top said on the ride home, "they're disco on crack." Worded perfectly. I wanted to dance and smash into things all at the same time. I can't even imagine them rolling into 9:30 Club with those two albums under their belt. It would be out of hand. As soon as it was over, Top and I met up (thank you Ticketmaster for making it nearly impossible to get two seats together the day these things were released) and got the hell out of there. I didn't want Death Cab to sour whatever state of mind I would be bringing into Wolfmother tomorrow night. What a show. What. A. Show.