| The following is a rather half-assed recap of a day too great to put into words:
April 17th, pre-2:30pm: Nothing noteworthy. The day goes according to plan. The excitement and anticipation grows.
April 17th, 2:30-6:20pm: MOD. Spent an enjoyable two hours sitting on a curb outside of Much HQ, waiting for them to let us in. Enjoyed a maple syrup crepe (too plain) from Cafe Crepe, and passed the time analyzing pedestrians as they walked by. One man was even nice enough to stop and give us his rendition of a recent Hilary Duff single. Once inside, the waiting continued...until at long last they led us to the actual room where the broadcast was to take place. I grabbed a seat next to Lesley, near the centre of the row and hoped for the best. This burly white guy sat on the other side of me and opened his legs so wide that he invaded a good portion of my personal space. I spent the next hour and a half wanting to snap the guy's knee off...but we all know that I'm not capable of exerting such force. ...MOD requires its patrons to clap too much. But, I did manage to get an up-close view of the four Franz members. They really are very stylish people. They didn't look too interested in being at Much though. They probably wanted to be at the concert venue, horsing around backstage. Anyway, I got myself on TV for at least a second, and also got an autograph from lead singer Alex. MOD ended, and it was off to Ricoh Coliseum.
April 17th, 7:00pm-9:45pm: The lineups were obscene! All of the stands were eventually full, but they only sold enough floor tickets to fill about two-thirds of the floor. Shtupid. So then the opening act hit the stage. I thought a few of their songs were rather nice. 'The Cribs' actually have a song I've heard of...it's that one that's currently featured in Telus Mobility's ad for their "Spark" product...whatever that is. Then it was onto the first of the two headliners,
Franz Ferdinand
They hit the stage in typical fashion, and the crowd was quite loud and quite enthused. They played their first song, and I could tell by the look on Alex's and Nick's faces that they were happy to be there...moreso than 6 months ago. Their performance was much more animated than last time. Even silent Bob got into the act, climbing on top of speakers and moving his hips to the sounds of Do You Want To, Matinee, and Take Me Out, among others. The only bad part about their segment was the people around us, all of whom seemed to enjoy pushing and shoving those around them. Death Cab, the other headliner, really sucked donkey dick. Lesley and I walked out during their first song to purchase Franz shirts. The only positive thing about their set was the physical set, which made the stage look rather nice.
April 17th, 9:45pm-1:45am: So about halfway through DCFC's set, Lesley decided that she had had enough and led the way out of Ricoh. I was about ready to call it a night, what with work early the next day, but she wanted more of Alex  . So the three of us walked around to the back of Ricoh, where we had seen the bands' tour buses earlier. Then, almost out of nowhere, a familiar-looking man with undeniable style walks across the road, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!!! Lesley grabs my arm and I belt out, half-jokingly, "We love you, Alex!" Thank God he didn't hear, and it seemed my two sidekicks didn't hear either. He had gone over to speak to a group of two or three fans, so we approached and waited for our turn. The following then happened:
I ACTUALLY GOT TO TOUCH LEADSINGER ALEX...
...AND BASS GUITARIST (and my favourite) BOB!!!
Drummer Paul was nowhere to be seen, and too bad we couldn't get closer to Guitarist Nick, as he was almost constantly being questioned by girl after girl. I did, however, manage to snap the following pic of Nick:
So that was the highlight of an absolutely Franz-tastic day. Lesley and I lingered in the vicinity for a few more moments just to try to come to terms with the fact that we had just mingled with three quarters of Franz Ferdinand. I practiced a few of the additions to my Alex imitation arsenal, which had grown substantially during the day. Then we made the long but enjoyable journey home.
Many thanks to my lovely Lesley for her undying (and sometimes troubling) love for Franz Ferdinand and exposing me to their wonderful music. Also, thanks to Jennie, Cassie, and Lesley's sister for their contributions to an absolutely unbelievable day. |
drawing of lead singer)
