Review: Franz Ferdinand at Ice Cream Factory
Franz Ferdinand at Ice Cream Factory
w/ Teenage Dads, Delivery
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Triumphantly returning to Western Australia for the first time in almost sixteen years, the once and future monarchs of Scotland, Franz Ferdinand, gave the Ice Cream Factory a refreshing curiosity this year, especially from a band of their vintage—a concert that put this year’s album and their newest material front and centre of the experience.
Supported by not one, but two up-and-coming outfits from the east coast, the first of these was garage-punk troupe Delivery. Three weeks ago at Mojo’s in Fremantle on a very local lineup, tonight the early slot for an international tour, this Melburnian quintet were earnest, talented, and ambitious, a boisterous mix of Australian indie meets grunge, with standout track Baader Meinhof being an unexpectedly peppy bop.
A frisson of excitement rippled through the warehouse when primary support Teenage Dads took to the stage. Having toured North America and Europe twice since last being in Perth, based on the evidence of both this evening’s actual set and especially the audience reaction to it, the group were right on the cusp of breaking into the truly big time.
A luxurious blend of pop-punk, synth-pop, and even new wave, the latter most obviously on triple j Like A Version’s Video Killed The Radio Star, Jordan Finlay’s sweetly smooth vocals were well supported by a very polished performance by his bandmates. Hey Diego, Speedracer and Teddy were other delightful additions to the set and easily showcased Teenage Dads’ growing repertoire, confidence, and songwriting abilities.
Watch for both these support bands to take their careers to the next level shortly.
Headliners Franz Ferdinand arrived on stage to the blaring saxophones, trombones, and trumpets of Theme from Police Squad before they immediately launched into an enthusiastic and very willing The Dark of the Matinee. From their eponymous debut album, it demonstrated both then and tonight how the band’s music had always felt fully formed upon direct arrival.
“We’re from Glasgow,” lead vocalist Alex Kapranos happily yet probably unnecessarily mentioned, and throughout the night he kept the patter going, an easy insouciance combined with the adoring energy of the crowd, which at times almost felt like a two-way conversation.
Kapranos reminisced on one of the band’s previous trips to WA, twenty years ago for Big Day Out. He stated he loved Perth, but he had loved it even more back then, when there were no cameras in the crowd. Kapranos requested in the strongest terms for tonight’s audience to put the phones away, preferably somewhere very painful—as the band hurtled straight into Take Me Out. Their biggest hit, near the middle of the set. Some phones remained out, unfortunately, but as for the song and performance, it was cathartic perfection; no notes were needed—the audience melded and moved almost as one.
What could possibly follow one of the guitar riffs that defined a generation that would not be the almost certain drop in quality? Here, Franz Ferdinand demonstrated supreme confidence in themselves and somewhat surprised the audience with Hooked, from their newest album, The Human Fear. If Take Me Out was tight, compressed, and comfortably anxious, Hooked was lush, expansive, and very relaxed—an anthem easily built to fit the biggest stages across the planet.
It was not as if the newer song could ever top the classic, but they were both peaks of similar altitude, and there was very little distance in quality from one to the other.
An overall observation was made tonight: the passion the band demonstrated for their craft remained undiminished across the decades, and the new tracks effortlessly slotted in amongst the old. Audacious, Build It Up, and Night or Day were equal in almost every aspect—except, obviously, familiarity—to Do You Want To, No You Girls, or Walk Away.
Mention also needs to be made of the excellent lighting and sound designs. The band played tonight without a screen that covered the back of the stage, which meant all the very deserved visual focus remained on the performers. The lighting rig was bright, breezy, and moody where it needed to be, and it strongly appeared as if each song had its own specific setup.
The sound was even better. In the venue space, it would have been so easy to overwhelm the audience, but even underneath the guitars and vocals, the audio was super crisp, with each note on the keyboards and every drumbeat clear, precise, and distinct.
Constantly shouted from the fans at the back—if it had been missed from the setlist, there would surely have been several aneurysms—the always barnstorming Ulysses led directly into concert closer This Fire, an almost perfect one-two combination to finish the evening out.
The energetic and repeated refrain of “We’re gonna burn this city” as Franz Ferdinand released their audience into the night, an incitement to either revolution or anarchy, brought to mind The Joker or Bane, with a sleepy and unsuspecting Perth filling in for Gotham.
An honestly superb performance, Franz Ferdinand stole all the hearts and minds on offer from the Perth crowd tonight. The energy transfer between band and fans was palpable, and the venue suited the event almost perfectly. Even though the audience will eat heartily on the power of this concert for an extended period, one hopes it won’t be as long a break until the group’s next visit.
PAUL MEEK
Photos by Linda Dunjey
