By Michael MacLennan
‘Do you want to?’ ask Franz Ferdinand as they launch into a crowd-pleasing set of anthems… Well, yes I do, but I’d rather go see Yeah Yeah Yeahs, quite frankly.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Alex Kapranos and co, of course, but as Karen O emerged onto the NME Stage like some spectacular mash-up of Red Indian and nu-rave, there’s few other places you’d want to be.
She casted aside the brightly coloured headdress after opener Sealings, hollering “I want out” as she teased and tantalised the crowd before a prolonged intro for Cheated Hearts.
The New York three-piece (bolstered by some fine musicians including David Pajo) were certainly a huge draw on the Friday, but if anything suffered from a set slightly too mid-paced, as though they were overly compensating for their often more esoteric alternative edge.
Still, they had little trouble winning over the crowd, especially not when they wheeled out the East Kilbride Pipe Band to join them onstage for some traditional Scottish sounds.
From then on a new momentum was discovered, the likes of Gold Lion, Heads Will Roll and Date With The Night ending the set in considerable style (a shower of red confetti not harming matters much). A fine show as a prelude to a weekend when girl power shall surely loom large, even if a certain something seemed lacking.
