Franz Ferdinand / Death Cab for Cutie / The Cribs

A capacity crowd mostly made up of teens draped in striped shirts and sweater vests filled the Cepsum to support the indie-turned-major styling of Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie. Yorkshire’s the Cribs were a perfect fit as openers, with their British-infused indie post-punk. The Cribs could easily be mistaken for their contemporaries the Kaiser Chiefs, Ash or the Libertines, ploughing through their short, rousing songs with barely enough time to breathe. While unoriginal and slightly too influenced by the Jam, the Cribs’ vocal harmonies and Keith Moon-esque drumming were worth watching. Death Cab for Cutie’s dreamy pop rock may have been a little too subtle for the beer-chugging audience, but a stellar set that included "A Movie Script Ending” and "We Laugh Indoors,” and the drum solos during "Different Names for the Same Thing” (which featured Ben Gibbard moonlighting on a mini drum set) made their performance memorable. Franz Ferdinand followed in big arena rock style, with an intense stage production that included flashy lights and an on-stage runway. While the performance was entertaining, it was not as witty or energetic as you would expect a FF show to be. The stage banter was too deliberate and rehearsed, and the set was too predictable, even to those mostly unfamiliar with FF’s complete catalogue. This "quick and easy” set boded well for the audience that just wanted to hear the very funny first single off of You Could Have it So Much Better, "Do You Want To” or the song that skyrocketed them to stardom on Top 40 radio, "Take Me Out.” Unfortunately, the videos to both those singles are more captivating than their live performance on this night.