Franz Ferdinand Headlines Neighborhood Theatre Reopening with High-Energy Show

After two long months with the doors closed, Neighborhood Theatre reopened on Tuesday with a performance by Franz Ferdinand.

The Scottish indie-rock band performed for nearly 90 minutes to a sold-out crowd, basking in the glow of new lighting and jumping around on a refinished stage as the crowd heard it all through a new sound system.

Patrons likely also noticed that the formerly open ceiling has been closed up to provide better acoustics, there’s new seating in the balcony and a new draft bar featuring local craft brews opening near the newly renovated restrooms. (It’s probably also worth noting that the Big Ass Fan is still spinning in the main room.)

General manager Justin Fedor let me know that the bar-side stage also has new lighting and sound installed.

“Everything went better than we could have hoped,” Fedor said in a release before Tuesday’s show. “We kept artists and patrons top-of-mind throughout the planning and execution phases of the renovations, and now we’re beyond excited to show off what we have in store for them when they walk through our doors.”

As for Franz Ferdinand, they looked and sounded great. High energy might be an understatement when it comes to frontman Alex Kapranos.

The 54-year-old frontman jumped around the stage, shook hands with audience members and did his best to get everyone moving and grooving to the music — or, at times, simply paying more attention.

As the first notes rang out from the band’s hit single, “Take Me Out,” Kapranos noticed hundreds of fans holding up cell phones to capture the moment, an all-too-familiar sight for any touring musician these days.

“Put your phones away,” he urged the crowd. “There are so many bad videos of us playing this song on YouTube — you can find them after the show. For now, put your phones away and be physically present with us. Right here. Right now. Make a memory with us.”

Thankfully, the majority of people did as they were directed and helped create the standout song of the night for energy, singing and all-around enjoyment.

It was clear Kapranos felt it too. “Your energy is just incredible, Charlotte,” he told the crowd.

Their four-song encore turned into five when someone in the crowd shouted out for “Lucid Dreams.”

“We haven’t played this in months, but we’ll give it a shot,” he exclaimed.

It went off without a hitch. The band closed with “This Fire” as Kapranos coaxed the crowd to crouch down before the entire room jumped up for the chorus, finishing off a great reopening night performance.

Franz Ferdinand has just a couple more shows in Texas before heading overseas to play gigs in France and Italy. The show continues at Neighborhood Theatre this weekend with performances from Josh Tatofi on Friday night and American Aquarium on Saturday.

Franz Ferdinand setlist
The Dark of the Matinee
Night or Day
Walk Away
No You Girls
Stand on the Horizon
Do You Want To
Build It Up
Jacqueline
The Fallen
Michael
Bar Lonely
Love Illumination
Take Me Out
Outsiders

Encore
Audacious
Always Ascending
Lucid Dreams
Hooked
This Fire

Be sure to check out Queen City Nerve’s Soundwave, Charlotte’s most comprehensive live music listing, so you don’t miss out on any shows or concerts coming up. And hell, if you’re looking for something else to do, you can check out our events page as well, which runs the gamut of things to do in Charlotte. You don’t ever have to be bored again. You can check out more of Jeff’s pics and live reviews here.