Franz Ferdinand find new lease of life as Other Stage headliners

For me personally, it seems that Franz Ferdinand to be headlining the Other Stage is too little in terms of expectation, but also too much.

Bursting onto the indie scene around the end of all the hype that had surrounded The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand were declared my much of the music press as the "best new band around', which culminated in a slot on the NME Awards tour in 2004, before hitting the mainstream.

The band's self-titled debut aided in the rise, and their popularity saw the band awarded with a slot on the same stage at Glastonbury 2005, which was declared by many that attended as one of the performances of the festival.

But it was their second album, 'You Could Have It So Much Better' that saw the band take to the arenas up and down the country. Unfortuantley for the band, all didn't go to plan, and all of the hype that surrounded the band's second album ultimately proved to be a downfall. The album was heavily criticised and scrutinised by both fans and sections of the press, and with high profile headline slots at both V Festival and Reading & Leeds proving to be flops, Franz Ferdinand were written off.

But this is the reason that I thought that their slot was too little for them, having previously headlining two of the UK's major festivals, yet it seemed too much for a band who were written off by many, and that had suffered a huge drop in popularity, as shown by the fact that they're now playing out the nation's Academies, not the arenas, and stuggling to sell these venues out.

However, having taken some time out from the live music scene, I feel that they found a new lease of life with their latest album, 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand', arugably their best album to date. It also seems that confidence has once again grown in the band, and this showed throughout their headline set.

With a setlist featuring songs from all three of their albums, fan favourites, and 'festival anthems', 'Take Me Out', 'Darts of Pleasure', 'The Fallen' and 'Do You Want To' were all greatly recieved, but it was the new songs that Alex Kapranos, lead singer and guitarist, seemed to take the most pride in, with 'Lucid Dreams' and especially 'Ulysses' sounding fantastic.

Maybe their headline slot was a much needed release for the band. They were able to show that they've still got it, without the pressure of taking a 'major' position. The new lease of life that they've found transformed onto the stage, and that resulted in a fantastic show.

Unfortunately, the band were billed up against both Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, the big band of the festival, and 2manydjs, both of whom drew very large crowds, resulting in quite a small audience for a headline, especially compared to previous night's headliners Bloc Party. But this didn't detract from what was a very impressive set.

For those that didn't want to catch the other acts on offer, Franz Ferdinand proved a worthy alternative, and for me personally, this return to form is more than welcome, from a band who promised so much, and it seems that they are now starting to deliver.

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