Dundee’s live music calendar just got a major upgrade—Glasgow’s indie rock heavyweights Franz Ferdinand are set to headline LiveHouse in 2025. Famed for their razor-edged songwriting, angular riffs, and explosive live sets, the band will bring their art-pop brilliance back to a city with deep roots in their rise. The gig marks a return to form and a return to place, promising a night that blends fan-favourite anthems with fresh cuts from their latest record, The Human Fear, out 10 January 2025.
Franz Ferdinand’s connection to Dundee is more than a tour stop—it’s part of their origin story. Back in 2003, a then-unknown Franz took to the stage at the Reading Rooms, a Victorian library-turned-venue, delivering a blistering set that hinted at what was to come. Reflecting on that era, Clash Magazine noted the band were “flush with the success of their single ‘Darts Of Pleasure’ – an undreamt of No. 44 smash on the hit parade.” That performance lit the fuse for a meteoric rise, with “Take Me Out” launching them from cult favourites to global stage-headliners almost overnight. “When ‘Darts Of Pleasure’ came out, we got to number 44 in the charts and I was over the moon… then everything went fucking nuts with ‘Take Me Out,’” frontman Alex Kapranos told Clash.
With roots firmly planted in Glasgow’s scrappy DIY scene, Franz Ferdinand have always thrived on the tension between precision and chaos—witty, sharp-edged lyrics laid over driving, danceable guitars. It’s a sound that helped launch Clash Magazine itself, with the band gracing the magazine’s debut cover in 2004. “Scotland is a vibrant musical hotbed; in particular, Glasgow is an incredibly vital international music city,” said Clash publisher John O’Rourke, summing up the band’s legacy and the cultural energy they represent.
Two decades on, Franz Ferdinand aren’t content to coast on nostalgia. The Human Fear has been hailed as “fresh and vibrant,” packed with “effervescent” standouts like Bar Lonely and shadowy new-wave gems such as The Birds. It’s a reminder that this is a band still pushing forward—still hungry, still unpredictable.
For Dundee, the LiveHouse show is more than a concert—it’s a kind of full-circle moment. Kapranos, who once booked shows at Glasgow’s 13th Note, still carries that DIY spirit. “The scene that Paul [Thomson, drummer] and I were in was very much part of the DIY scene in Glasgow and Edinburgh: music for the sake of music,” he told Clash. It’s a sentiment that will no doubt pulse through every note in the city’s newest venue.
Expect a setlist that spans eras—from the jagged euphoria of Jacqueline to the sonic edge of The Human Fear. As Clash puts it, Franz Ferdinand’s “pop appetite” and “disregard for the past” make them a band that never stops moving. And with tickets likely to vanish fast, Dundee fans would be wise to move just as quickly.
