JUAN PABLO SANCHEZ P.

I recently went to the best concert I have ever been to in my life. It took place at “Corferias”, here in Bogota Colombia on March 27 of the present year. It was truly one of the best music presentations that Bogotá has ever experience because it had a combination of all the elements that makes a show unforgettable and worth going… Franz Ferdinand was in Colombia for the first time for the “XII Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro”

Franz Ferdinand is a Scottish Indie rock band that begun in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed by Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals). In my opinion they are all geniuses.

When I arrived to Corferias the line was huge, but the people making it were very excited and anxious. They were talking about how much they wanted to see them live, about other concerts they had been to, and their expectations as well. As we got closer to the entrance we started feeling more and more excited, the concert was about to begin.

The place (Salon Milenio at Corferias) was perfect for the concert: it was not very big and you could see the stage with no problems, no matter where you were standing. The first thing I noticed was that the public had people of all ages: there were 14-17 year old kids with their parents, old men, old women, young people in their 20s, in fact there was an incredible variety of people, and not just in ages but in styles also.

The show begun at 8pm with a Colombian band called The Hall Effect which played for 30 minutes approximately, showing their new production made in Europe. The songs they played were very good and the quality of the sound could not be better. It all suggested that Franz Ferdinand were going to be unbelievable.

Finally, at 9pm approximately Franz Ferdinand came out. First they put a video in which they introduced all the members of the band and the image of their tour, then they started playing a song called “Auf Acshe” that talks about a girl you can’t have but you want her with all your strength, it is an excellent, catchy song.

After they finished playing that song, the lead singer saluted the Colombian crowd with a lot of energy and excitement, at the same time, we could not believe what we were experiencing: The lights, the sound, the band, the crowd, everything was just perfect.

The show went on for about 2 hours. All the songs were incredible, they sounded better live than in their CDs. Alex’s voice was spectacular, guitar player Nick McCarthy was awesome: he played and moved very fast and the vibe he gave to the crowd was amazing, Paul Thomson, the drummer, played very focused, but yet, giving the best show he could, and finally Bob Hardy (bass guitar player), in the middle of his seriousness, was transmitting happiness and was matching perfectly with his band-mates.

In the middle of their concert, they gave a rare, yet awesome drum show. At one point they all grabbed drum sticks and started playing a drum set that laid in the middle of the stage. The drum show lasted only a few minutes, but in was definitely one of the best things they did.

The end was just deserving of plaudits and shouts, they all abandoned the stage one at a time and in the end the only man standing was the drummer. Paul started playing an awesome drum solo and finally he ended it with the entire category he has. After the music stopped, the four of them came out to say goodbye to the thousands of Colombians that went that night just to see them play, the singer, Alex, had a Colombian flag in his hands and the crowd went nuts.

It was truly incredible all the energy they had and the good vibes their transmitted to us. They all played with a lot of commitment, but also having a lot of fun, and that’s why there were not any bored sad people in the whole auditorium, we were all just happy all night long.