Hogmanay organisers line up Franz Ferdinand

Scottish indie-rock favourites Franz Ferdinand are to headline the 25th anniversary of Edinburgh’s official Hogmanay celebrations – 15 years after a previous planned appearance as a support band fell victim to bad weather.

The Glasgow band – who have just been shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award – were a largely unknown band when they were due to support Erasure at the Ross Bandstand in 2003, months before releasing their multi-million selling debut album.

Alex Kapranos, the band’s frontman, said: “Hogmanay is the greatest party of the year and there is nowhere in the world like Scotland to celebrate it. Just thinking about bringing in the bells in Edinburgh gets me excited. It’s going to be some night.”

The band, whose new album Always Ascending was released in February, have landed the headline slot for the Concert in the Gardens three years after appearing at the Edinburgh International Festival alongside 1970s American pop-rock outfit Sparks.

The band also played two outdoors shows at the Ross Bandstand during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2005. However, this year will be their first return to the city on Hogmanay since 2003 when the Concert in the Gardens was cancelled after gusts of wind ripped apart the temporary stage