'I like to think that we got really good at being in Franz Ferdinand'

It's been a while since Franz Ferdinand came our way - their last visit to Portsmouth was a slot at 2017's Victorious Festival.

- by Chris Broom

Franz Ferdinand play Portsmouth Guildhall on March 10

It was a time of transition in the indie-rockers' camp. Guitarist Dino Bardot had recently replaced founder member Nick McCarthy, and keys player Julian Corrie brought them up to a five-piece, alongside frontman Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy, for the first time.

Since then Audrey Tait has also replaced original drummer Paul Thomson.

And now they're returning to play Portsmouth Guildhall on Tuesday, March 10.

A 'best of' album in 2022, Hits To The Head marked the first time this lineup recorded together on a couple of new tracks. Then last year saw them release their first full-length with the current lineup - The Human Fear.

When...Fear came out, it was their first new album in seven years, since 2018's Always Ascending, but they hadn't planned for there to be such a big gap.

"We came off the road in 2019 from touring Ascending", Bob tells The News, "intending to have a couple of months at home, and then suddenly we were in lockdown and we couldn't meet up again for another year and a bit, which delayed us putting out the greatest hits because we were recording new songs for that.

"So that got pushed back and pushed and pushed - it came out 18 months/two years later than was intended, which then obviously knocked on to making The Human Fear. But yeah, we're back now. We got there in the end!"

And Bob says they've been revelling in the new energy that Dino and Audrey bring.