This hometown gig from Franz Ferdinand brings forth conflicting emotions: it is a chance for fans to wrap the four-piece in a effusive, beery bear-hug, and also to bid them goodbye as they continue their waltz from underground to centre stage. The Mercury prize-winning band have sold 2m copies of their debut album, and this tour is likely to be the last before they super-size their way up from "proper" music venues to arenas. They play Glasgow's SECC at the end of the year.
The band look well equipped for the transition, radical enough to kick off their set with the gender-blending Michael and populist enough to get the crowd clapping along to their urgent, disco-touched rock. Lead singer Alex Kapranos bestows the crowd with knowing looks, pausing every few seconds as if caught in a freeze-frame, his eyes twinkling, before raising his fists in triumphant disbelief.
The band play their album, and play it well - Take Me Out is predictably momentous - but more impressive are two promising new songs. Shopping comes as an encore, with guitarist Nick McCarthy (clad, Duran Duran-style, in a safari shirt and cravat) adding some gleeful 1980s keyboards to its funky new wave sounds.
The track isn't much of a departure, but it's good to see the band keeping up their momentum - and living up to the hype. The next 12 months, and the difficult second album, may see a backlash. But as the crowd pour out, chanting This Fire and forming small, short-lived congas, all the signs are against it.
· At Northumbria University tomorrow. Box office: 0191-232 6002. Then touring.
