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Frontier Touring are thrilled to announce that two of the most prolific bands of recent times, Franz Ferdinand and MGMT, will join forces for a pair of special co-headline shows in Australia this July.
These shows mark both Franz Ferdinand and MGMT’s first visits to our shores in five years, with co-headline performances at Melbourne’s Festival Hall (Tue 24 Jul) and Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion (Wed 25 Jul), as well as a stop at Byron Bay’s Splendour In The Grass festival.
Glasgow quintet Franz Ferdinand remain one of the UK’s biggest exports of the last two decades, and will perform in Australia on the back of announcing a huge world tour and dropping fifth record Always Ascending. Their 2004 self-titled debut album immediately propelled them to major global commercial and critical success, taking home the 2004 Mercury Music Prize as well as seeing their anthemic single ’Take Me Out’ chart in the top ten across the world.
Fresh off the back of the UK leg of their world tour and currently performing in the USA, the quintet are looking razor-sharp ahead of their Australian shows. As noted by The AU Review, Franz Ferdinand live are not to be missed: ’The new songs fit in well with the old material and filled the room with real warmth, allowing the band to prove that they are not content to just sit back and trade on nostalgia alone.’
MGMT are Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, the Grammy-nominated duo who have been producing innovative psychedelic pop anthems since their 2008 debut Oracular Spectacular including some of the biggest songs of the 2000s in ‘Kids’, 'Time to Pretend’ and ‘Electric Feel'. These will be MGMT’s first performances in Australia since January 2014.
The band’s fourth album Little Dark Age, released earlier this year, features the “undeniably brilliant” (NME) lead single ‘Little Dark Age’ as well as ‘When You Die’ and ‘Me And Michael’, and was released earlier this year to widespread critical acclaim. Produced by MGMT, Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift, Kelela, Blood Orange) and long-time collaborator Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Spoon, Tame Impala), Little Dark Age is a true “show of strength” (Q, 4*) and “unironically gorgeous… MGMT doing what MGMT do best” (The Guardian, 4*).
After an extensive UK, Europe and North American headline tour at the start of the year that took them to a number of iconic venues including a sold out show at London’s Electric Brixton, Paradiso in Amsterdam, and the Hollywood Palladium, the band will embark on a huge eleven-date headline US tour this May before heading to summer festivals across the world, including Firefly, Mad Cool and NOS Alive. MGMT are thrilled to be performing in Australia for the first time in over four years.
The combined firepower of Franz Ferdinand and MGMT in Melbourne and Sydney this July is sure to be unmissable.
Spectacular views of the Brooklyn bridge, East river and skyline flanked the open stage and even Franz Ferdinand seemed energized and elated by the gorgeous ‘backdrop over one hundred years in the making’. They were amazing - the show was sheer joy.
Band - tight Alex's vocals - super strong, in-tune New Members - kept the vibe and energy of the originals from 2004 Venue - majestic views of the East River and Empire State Bldg, not too crowded on the edges, but a full crowd Staff/Egress - good signage, good flow (early); a bit slow at departure, and security started to close the space while the stairs out were still busy, though not packed Fans - pretty well-behaved, respectful; got a spot from behind the Heineken VIP barriers and saw everything; surprised at the range in ages Tech - decent, a few spotlight issues, minor feedback but didn't hurt the experience Merch - couldn't find anything I wanted in t-shirts, looking for a more subtle front logo, or the Tour shirt to have had a FF logo with Hits to the Head; wanted to go back to merch after, but there was no access and no table at the exit, no signage saying to purchase *prior* Warm-up Band - worst part of the experience; forgettable 3-piece from Boston, lead singer was drunk, high or otherwise a mess, poor acoustics for their sound, tried to mimic? some of Alex K's moves, but it was so awkward. A much better opening band (but UK based) would have been Wooze. The band felt too different in pot-rock to be a fit for the more upbeat Franz Ferdinand Meeting the Band - there were about 50-60 fans waiting by the tour bus until after 10:45pm, about 45-60 after the show ended; would have been nice to catch a glimpse or wave hello after such a fantastic show, but after an hour most fans gave up and wandered off Ticket transfers - was gifted the ticket from a friend, but he wasn't able to transfer until 48 or 72(?) hours before the show
Loved the show. Glad Franz Ferdinand was in town they rocked it. Vunderbar their opener played a good set as well. Great venue and overall great night.
The band was great, venue location and view are unbeatable. Franz Ferdinand is worth a repeat, the music is fun and their energy is very positive!
Pros: - great band - great views - great sound system - great LED screens - not crowded (even found a place to sit) - well organized Cons: - expensive beer ($17) - didn't accept apple pay at beer stand
Incredible View and ambiance at the rooftop, pricey biers though, the music by Franz Ferdinand was amazing with the view all around.
Nice night, Good venue Great band, what more would we want?
Franz Ferdinand’s NYC concert was long overdue, and, finally, they made it! Thank you so much for the great show, energy and amazing music that make for so many years! Please come back soon!
They are still absolutely amazing. Fabtastic concert e beautiful location
The best show I’ve seen in my life. Magnetic performance and just overall my favorite venue. Bring Franz Ferdinand back…like every week 😂
I never miss this band when they come to town! Alex is the ultimate showman, he communicates with the audience in a beautiful way. I’m still on my concert high!
All the hits and everyone knew all the words. Love this band!
Going to see Franz Ferdinand is always great, whether at the Strathmore or the 930 Club. They are just top notch!! The fun is fun evermore, can't stop going, no I won't stop going!!
I’ve never seen FF before, but they’ve been on my bucket list for a long time. The sound was awesome in the 9:30 Club and the band didn’t disappoint. Sometimes it was hard to understand their Scottish accents when talking, but the music was high energy and fun all night. Set was only about 75 minutes. Would have loved to see more
A great concert from Franz Ferdinand, with almost all of their hits.
Franz Ferdinand surpassed my expectations! They were amazing playing all their hits! The show was non stop energy! I stayed after and met the band! Got my vinyl signed! I had the best time at Tabernacle! I drove from Miami to Atlanta and it was well worth it! Such a fun band and they are great people too!
Great sound and atmosphere, courteous staff and fast and easy entrance to the venue
Alex, Nick, and Miaoux we’re putting on a show, the others looked annoyed to be there. New(ish) drummer had zero energy, Bob looked like he was going to die if he stepped off an X piece of tape. It was a let down. I’ve seen them around the world, literally, this was the worst performance I’ve seen.
Franz put on a fantastic show. Tons of energy, they sound amazing live!
This was my first time getting to see Franz Ferdinand live and they did not disappoint. Great show with Great songs. Hope they come back soon!
