Best Report From the Field

My brother Greg saw Franz Ferdinand Tuesday night in Chicago. This is the review that he sent me. I'm pretty proud of his work.

Words So Leisured
by Gregory Barnes

I went to see Franz Ferdinand on Tuesday at the Aragon Ballroom. It was my second official rock concert and a very good one. It was the first stop of their North American tour. I went with my friend Colin.

I was worried at first when we arrived at 6:20. The doors were not open yet and the line went around the corner into an alley. After ten minutes the line began to move and split up two, separating boys and girls. An older man behind us commented that it was like what the Nazi’s did at concentration camps to Jews. But this was a concentration camp of fun. We were able to get incredible spots, about 2 people from the stage.

The first band started exactly at 7. They were Cut Copy from Australia. They weren’t that good.

Then at 8:51 the second band came out. Pretty Girls Makes Graves. They were a unique band. I really liked the girl keyboardist. She also played a keyboard harmonica thing and an accordion. The music was fun but …the lead singer’s voice just didn’t work.

Finally at 8:03 Franz Ferdinand took the stage. The crowd went insane. They opened with “Jacqueline”. During the middle of song, when they begin signing during the rock part, a curtain behind them dropped, revealing a picture of all four members heads. It was sweet. Then they played a new song, “This Boy”. It is a good tune. After that they played “Tell Her Tonight” followed by another new song, but I have no idea what it was. Then they played one of my favorites, “Auf Achse”. Next they played “Take Me Out”. The crowd went crazy including me. The floor was shaky cause of all the jumping. I was so sweaty and tired by that time I thought I couldn’t go on dancing. But then they blasted “Do You Want To” and I was filled with energy.

Then they played another song I love, “The Dark Of The Matinée”. They played another great new song, “The Fallen” followed by “40’” and “Darts of Pleasure”.

They left stage then. But the crowd wanted more so they did a 3-song encore. They played “Michael”, “Evil And A Heathen” (new song) and “This Fffire”. It was a perfect encore.

It was an amazing concert. They sound just as good live as on a CD. I have heard only two other bands that sound as good live as on CD. They are Kaiser Chiefs and Ambulance Ltd. Franz didn’t do anything super crazy. Alexander jumped on top of the bass drum and played guitar. Paul threw sticks in the crowed at end. I almost caught one but when It fell on ground I decided I’d much rather walk out alive then be carried out dead with a stick. But that was as crazy as it got. The lighting job was also insane.

After the concert Colin and I found some friends from church. Also all the German exchange students from my high school were there so I talked to one while in line to get my shirt.

Pretty great reporting, right? Greg is a sophomore at Oak Park River Forest High School. That means he's 15.