I just got back from the ’secret’ (and free) Franz Ferdinand show at Hammerstein Ballroom. It’s really weird going to a matinee concert. I thought that knowing it was daylight outside would keep me from enjoying it, but once inside, it was impossible to tell I wasn’t at a regular evening performance.

I was told that we might just be going to a sound check. But it wasn’t, it was a full set. In fact it was better then a regular show. There was no pretense. Franz Ferdinand came out. Some of them looked amused, some of them look tired. They started to play. They started to have fun. One of them took off his shoes. They took requests from the 500 person audience, which was full of die hard (and young!) fans. They let a bunch of people get on stage and sing along. They did NOT play Take Me Out. Three of them started playing the same drum kit at once. They finished their set and left the stage (they had to go rest for their show tonight). All in all, it was pretty awesome.

The concert was a ’secret’ because in order to get in you had to add them to your MySpace friend list. The genius who came up with this should get a promotion. I’m sure hundreds of people joined MySpace yesterday, just to get a ticket. But I was pretty impressed that no advertising was shoved down our throats once we got there, just a couple of simple banners on the side. There was a massive line to get in, but inside there was room to move around (it was only about 1/3 full on the floor and the mezzanines were empty). Even though I know it’s a terrible marketing ploy, I was really happy with it. I would recommend one of these shows to anyone in a position to go (they are supposedly having them all over the country, just add MySpace Secret Shows to your friend list to find out where and when).

[I also got to use my fancy new camera to capture some video, which will be posted soonish - check back for it this weekend]

UPDATE: