A giant blow-up alien was sat ghoulishly in the corner as a light bounced off a massive disco ball above the crowd. Gorgeous purple and red light flooded the stage as they slid into ‘Alien Days’ which then melted into crowd favourite ‘ Time To Pretend’. MGMT’s setup was a little more technical than their predecessor’s raucous. They worked their way through other hits like ‘No You Girls’, ‘Lazy Boy’ and ‘Ulysses’ before almost literally burning down the house with ‘This Fire’. The crowd was mesmerised as they launched into a broad set, opening with ‘Always Ascending’, ‘The Dark Of The Matinée’ and ‘Do You Want To’, highlighting three separate albums in about 10 minutes. Frontman Alex Kapranos was at the helm in loaded rock star mode, kicking, jumping and goading the crowd at every turn while his bandmates flailed around him. First up at their Hordern spot in Sydney, we copped an earful from the Glaswegians and then some.įranz Ferdinand matched every bit of energy in their songs with incredible force on stage. Both bands formed in the early 2000’s, and both released debut albums that broke through the charts and gained them instant international recognition, with a string of sing-a-long hits to follow and new albums released this year. That wild dynamic was what made this lineup so curious although you could see the parallels. Franz Ferdinand had been a personal highlight of the festival, and while MGMT had offered a much more mellow set in comparison, it was a treat to have them back after about 10 years when they last co-headlined SITG. Just prior to this potential delight, I also had the privilege of briefly witnessing both bands play Splendour in the Grass, so I had an inkling of what to expect. When I heard the news that these two pillars of my youth would be co-headlining a show together, obviously I had to be there. I have this vivid memory of first hearing Oracular Spectacular as a featured album on Triple J and the grating vocals on ‘ Weekend Wars’ tearing up my car radio, where Franz Ferdinand’s insanely addictive tunes were a mainstay as well.
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