Franz Ferdinand’s ‘sense of completion’ with concert
Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos has said the band jumped at the chance to headline Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations after a previous appearance fell victim to bad weather 15 years ago.
The indie-rock band’s frontman recalled scrambling to find a replacement gig in a tenement flat after the 2003 wash-out, when they were due to support Erasure in Princes Street Gardens.
Kapranos said the offer of the headline slot for the 25th anniversary Hogmanay celebrations offered the band a “sense of completion”.
Speaking before taking to the stage in Edinburgh, Kapranos said: “My sister was living in Edinburgh at the time and we ended up in the flat of the boyfriend of a friend of hers in Marchmont.
“We managed to get our gear together and play the gig in time to bring the new year in.
“I’ve got to admit the gig in that flat was the first thing I thought of when we got offered this gig. It was a good night and a great party in the event.
“It gives us a nice sense of completion to come back and play this year.
“I’m generally not a superstitious person. The only gig I’ve turned down because I thought it was chancing it too much was when were asked to play in Sarajevo to mark the centenary of the assassination of the original Franz Ferdinand.
“New year is celebrated across the planet and there are some great parties around the world, but nowhere celebrates Hogmanay quite like Scotland and there is nowhere else quite like Hogmanay in Edinburgh. For a band to be asked to do a gig like this is an exhilarating honour.”