Franz Ferdinand at the Arena della Regina in Cattolica

Tonight at 21:00, the summer season ends in triumph at the Arena della Regina in Cattolica, hosting many of the most famous Italian pop and cabaret stars, as well as some big international names. The last concert of the season is one of the last: a Scottish rock band. Franz Ferdinandwho had great success at the start of the millennium but never stopped recording and performing live.

Formed in Glasgow in 2002, the quintet was destined for a brilliant career with their first two singles, “Darts of Pleasure” and “Take Me Out”. The second, in particular, topped the charts around the world and won many prizes. The following “This fire” also refers to their great successes. At the time, the band sympathetically described their style as “music that makes girls dance”. Initial hopes were not fully realized, but Franz Ferdinand remains one of the best rock bands of recent years. The title of the second album “You could have it much better” turned out to be, unfortunately, prophetic, because the band was led, as then, by singer and guitarist Alex Kapranos, and bassist Bob Hardy was a little lost. In twenty years they have released only five albums, but they have gathered a lot of fans. Their style is influenced by post-punk, but borders on pop and dance, with a stage direction close to art rock. Their latest album of unreleased material is from 2018, but last year they released “Hits to head”, a compilation of hits, alternative or live versions, with unreleased “Billy Goodbye” and “Curious” produced by Stuart Price. (Dua Lipa, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys). The group later released the podcast Words Are So Slow. The Story of Franz Ferdinand” with interviews and career stories.

Cattolica is the second of three Italian performances, of which Kapranos said: “We bring our hits to the stage, right to the hearts and feet of people. This means be sure to include the singles as well as all those songs that you know are special to the band and the audience in some way.” During his twenty-year career, Franz Ferdinand has achieved over 10 million records sold, 1.2 billion streams, 14 platinum awards, Brit, Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize Awards, Grammy nominations and over 6 million concert tickets sold.

Tickets are priced at €40.25 on Ticketone.

The first concert season of Lupo 340 will close today at 21:30 on the Milano Marittima beach, curated by the seismic zone of Forlì. Even the last concert continues in the same spirit, with the duet Ruinzu, founded by Roman bassist Massimo Pupillo and Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Yoshida. The former is best known as the founder of the Roman trio Zu, with whom he recorded about fifteen records. Yoshida is one of the most innovative drummers, composers, improvisers and multi-instrumentalist of the Japanese avant-garde music scene, and has a wealth of experience working with Fred Frith and John Zorn.

Free admission. www.lupo340.com. Georgia