FFS! It’s FFS

Oh, be still our fluttering hearts. Tomorrow is a big day for those of us who believe that the only thing better than a Franz Ferdinand gig or a date with Sparks is the smooshing together of the four Franz boys and the Mael brothers in the exquisite meeting of hearts, minds, musical talent and neatly trimmed facial hair that is FFS.

The Scottish-American supergroup released their debut album last week. Now they have chosen to play their first ever show right here in Glasgow at the Art School Union, scene of some of the earliest Franz Ferdinand gigs.

Ahead of this auspicious – and sold out – live debut, we asked Franz and FFS frontman Alex Kapranos for some thoughts on his old stomping ground.

“Some of our very first gigs were in the union. It really feels like home for us, so to bring Ron and Russell to that home was a really obvious and great idea. But also the Art School’s been refurbished recently. They’ve done a really great job of it, the sound system’s really cool and the room feels great.”

And while we had the collective FFS ear, we asked his bandmate Russell Mael for his memories of past Sparks gigs in Glasgow. This is what he had to say:

“I remember the Apollo really vividly because I remember the stage being precariously high off the ground and if you happened to fall you were a goner. It was ridiculous, it was a sheer drop. I seem to remember you were almost on the level of the balcony from the stage so it was that high off the ground. The audience was so frantic at the gig that the balcony was actually moving up and down as we were playing. It was a pretty amazing venue, I do remember it really well. Too bad you tore it down.”

Ah, Russell we can only apologise. But if you come on our Glasgow’s Music Mile tour, you can hear more stories of the mighty Apollo as well as a host of other city centre venues past and present.

You can read more on FFS here