My 3-Day Rock Tour (Part 1: Franz Ferdinand in NY)

INTRODUCTION:

There’s nothing like a little rock n roll adventure and traveling to wake you up and make your feel alive again. The boredom of working nonstop can strip my creative juices sometimes and just a few days off helped mightily but I must admit also left me itching for more trips. All three shows fell into place one at a time with buying FF tickets months ago, winning Killers GA tickets on Ebay a few weeks before the show and then accidentally discovering VAST was playing Philly when I wrote an article on VAST in MD. The only way I feel the trip could have been better is if I hadn’t been sick. I enjoyed myself despite having to take a bevy of cold meds and constantly blowing my nose. I also had to suck on sucrets lozenges nonstop throughout all three shows to help my cough, sore throat and keep my nose from running. I also alternated between dayquil and robitussin cold and cough (note: never take the latter on an empty stomach because it gives you a weird trippy/woozy feeling.) But regardless of this I still danced and sang and screamed because I was not going to let anything stand in the way of my having fun. Since this is a three part adventure I will tell the story in three parts. Warning they are very descriptive and therefore long. I wrote these over a pd of time at work so I wouldn’t forget a detail. I’m of course starting with Day 1 in NY with Franz Ferdinand!!! Pictures from the entire journey will soon be found in my MS photo album under “My Three Day Rock Fest May 2009,” after I caption them. Part two is in NJ (the Killers) and part three Philly (VAST).

Day 1: Franz Ferdinand in NYC @ the Roseland Ballroom- May 7, 2009

My journey started on May 7th when I left Maryland to go to New York to see Franz Ferdinand at Roseland Ballroom that night with my friend Christina. I love Franz Ferdinand and hadn’t seen them since 2006 in Ireland. New York was the closest they would be playing near me so when I heard about this show the day tickets went on sale I bought two. The morning I left was an adventure in itself since the light rail left early that was supposed to take me to my $1.00 bus (yes $1…thanks Megabus!!). So I had to get Plan B it and get a taxi and have him speed to the bus stop. Thankfully I made there just in the nick of time or I would have been stuck in a not-so-safe part of Baltimore and probably would have had to take a much later bus. Listening to FF of course via my Ipod on the way to NY I dozed off three times. I also listened to VAST to getting ready for May 9th since the bus ride to NJ would be spent listening to a certain band from Vegas with a hot lead singer named Brandon. But back to my point, I am used to riding buses which are cheap and I have many stations nearby so I go to NY quite frequently. Only drawback this time was all the coughing and the sore throat, I felt like everyone was looking at me like I had swine flu or something, one rude man actually asked me if I had been tested (I said of course I have!). The bus arrived 40 minutes late to the city. That was OK, it was the standing in terrential downpours waiting in a very, very long taxi queue in Times Square that was annoying. I was already sick so this wasn’t helping, luckily I had went into the big Borders right outside for a cup of coffee so that was helping me stay slightly warm. But my hoodie and poor, cute sketchers still got soaked. I was off to a hotel because I had to make a last minute decision to stay in a hotel since my friend had just moved and didn’t have an extra key to her place yet.

The problem came in because due to her working the day of the show and next day too, it would have been hard to coordinate how the next day would work since my bus to NJ didn’t leave until 1pm. I rushed to my hotel by taxi and after being scolded by the jerk taxi driver for getting his seats wet (duh my bags are wet moron it’s raining) and after I stopped coughing my brains out I navigated the halls of the weird 8th floor of the Days Inn on 94th Street. My room was nowhere to be found, after asking some nice people, who had found there room, “do you have a clue where room 800 is?” They said “did you check behind the door that looks like it leads to a stairwell?” Sure enough hidden behind the poorly marked door was three rooms and finally I was able to enter and speedily get ready. Mistake one was I brought my brothers carry on since it was weather resistant. There wasn’t even much in it but due to the small strap it has cut a hole in my shoulder, so I was sweaty from carrying it and in pain but I cleaned up and said “I’m in New York…nothing will get me down!!”

FINALLY I ARRIVE AT ROSELAND…

I once again hailed a taxi and made it to the venue at about 6pm where Christina held our place in line. I finally breathed a sigh of relief that I was there. She was waiting with her talented musician friend JC Maillard (he plays in a band called Grand Baton) and it was nice to meet him as well. I was grateful she got there when she did, the line had a decent amount of people in it. I had wanted to arrive much earlier but due to coming from out of town that was not possible. But the line stretched around the building so I was just happy to be where I was. After JC bid us an adieu since he had a gig that night, Christina and I chatted a bit more and it wasn’t soon after they let us in. Of course once inside this featured the standard mad dash to the floor. We snagged a pretty good second row spot I liked it because everyone in front of me was very short so for once in my life I wasn’t blocked and felt super tall. After the usual “hold my place” moment where you run off to the bathroom and grab drinks I came back and we talked and caught up once again while we waited. It didn’t take very long for the opening band to take the stage and once the show started it was non stop rocking. The Born Ruffians came out first and were very good, their music was very unique and I must say their lead singer was absolutely adorable and had a gorgeous voice. I enjoyed their set but was anxiously awaiting Franz Ferdinand. I got a tiny taste of FF when drummer from FF joined BR onstage. The crowd really got into the song once everyone slowly figured out who it was now behind the once empty FF drum kit.

Finally I believe a little after 9:30 the band I had waited to see for years came out on stage. Guitarist/Keyboardist Nick McCarthy limped out on stage on crutches because according to him he broke his foot or as lead singer Alex Kapranos joked later when he did intros he was the man with one and a half feet. He rocked it out even despite this and having to sit in a big wooden chair. The show was unbelievable and they played some of my favorite songs including: “Dark of the Matinee,” “Lucid Dreams,” “Ullysses,” “No You Girls,” “Do You Want To?” and so many more. They did a lot of songs off their brilliant new CD “Tonight” which I adore. The stage looked cool decorated in a cool looking screen in the background that showed images throughout the show and also lights. But the band stole the show with their high energy performance and encouraging the crowd to sing, which oh yes we did. The longest sing and response was the “uh huh yeah.” sing-a-long during “Lucid Dreams” which was fun. They were so amazing to watch playing multiple instruments and also their interaction with each other. One of the big highlights was when the band started playing the drummers drums during “Outsiders” and also when the Born Ruffians joined them onstage during “Lucid Dreams” for one amazing extended light show and the sound produced was stunning. I love how frontman Alex Kapranos said New York was their favorite city other then Glasgow (of course). My only complaint would be the fact people decided it was cool to cut in front of us or save spots for way too many friends, so we felt ourselves get more and more crowded as the show goes on because nobody had the guts to stand up for their hard earned spot. We also had to be rude and physically keep people from cutting in front of us since some people didn’t have the courage to say anything. But when the last song played I was sad because I knew it could be a while until I see them again and the show felt way to short. Not only are those Scotsmen easy on the eyes but they write some of the catchiest songs around and are on the list of bands you have to see live to appreciate. I wanted a souvenir but everyone was hanging around the stage so I decided not to ask for a setlist, maybe next time.

After the show leaving the floor was a journey. After we made our way through the impressive sea of bottles and cups the crowd seemed to come to a dead halt trying to inch their ways down the one small hallway to leave. I had never seen anything like this before, it was insane. Eventually hot and sweaty and trapped in the equivalent of a sardine can we made our way to the merch stand. I bought a shirt of course a cute pink one that says Franz Ferdinand and No You Girls on the back. I also wanted an adorable electric blue tote bag but just my luck a girl who ordered about a minute sooner then me took the last one. So instead I got an electric blue Franz Ferdinand chrome water bottle that I adore. Once we left, Christina and I went on a trek to find cheap food or a place that was open since it was surprising how many places were closes. We walked around many streets for a good while, this impressed me because I was able to not die or stumble once in my 4 inch heels. I stopped on our way so I could ham it up for the camera in front of the giant David Letterman sign and even kissed my new FF water bottle. We ended up eating the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen at a place called Fat Sal’s Pizza. I had the yummiest Chicken Parm pizza slice ever and we chatted finally since the Roseland Ballroom was too loud to really do so. Unfortunately since this was a Thursday Christina had to call it a night early. So at 12:30AM I headed back to my hotel, which by the way is the first time I think I’ve ever ended up going home before 4am when I’m in NYC. Refreshing change lol So I went and got myself ready for the next day which included getting out what I was wearing to the Killers show because check out was noon. I went to bed at 3am and had was sad I had to say bye to NY and Christina so soon but realized my adventure was just beginning. I wanted a redo of FF but will hold out hope they will play near me again soon! But to quote them I really was “lucky, lucky!”

SETLIST:

Bite Hard
The Dark of the Matinee
No You Girls
Tell Her Tonight
The Fallen
Michael
Turn it On
Walk Away
Twilight Omens
Do You Want To
Take Me Out
What She Came For
40′
Outsiders

Encore:
Ulysses
Lucid Dreams
This Fire