College Street Music Hall Weekly Round Up: Franz Ferdinand and An Evening with John Cusack announced

College Street Music Hall announced Franz Ferdinand and An Evening with John Cusack this week. Tickets are on sale now at collegestreetmusichall.com.

Franz Ferdinand
College Street Music Hall – 238 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510
August 7, 2026
Click here to purchase tickets

Franz Ferdinand

Ever since their beginnings, throwing illegal parties in condemned Glasgow buildings, Franz Ferdinand have been defined by a fresh, unfading, forward-facing outlook. A transgressive art-school perspective, but with a love of a big song. A big riff. A big idea. Somewhat contrary. Unafraid to dance. Unafraid to think. Unafraid to fear.

Their sixth studio album, The Human Fear, courses with an energy that makes you feel very much alive. Fear makes you feel alive. Awake. A life without fear is a life asleep. Fear is what shows us our humanity. It’s why we search for it in horror films or extreme physical activities. The most life-defining moments are shaped by fear: acknowledging, accepting, or overcoming it.

All the good stuff is inseparable from fear. Commencing a relationship. The necessary vulnerability. Ending a relationship. Leaving an institution. Getting on that stage. To overcome fear, whether it’s fear of commitment, leaving an institution, or of isolation… What a buzz. What a reward.

While writing these new songs — many of which, beneath the immediacy of their choruses and melodies, allude to some fairly deep-set human fears — Franz Ferdinand released Hits To The Head, a retrospective of the previous 18 years. It sharpened the band’s perspective, allowing them to understand the essence of what made them work, while liberating them from the past. When you know who you are and are comfortable with it, you are free to go somewhere new. At this point in their career, Franz Ferdinand definitely know who they are, and are relishing the vigour that comes with accepting that.

There was a lot of writing before any recording. Then editing and arranging. For a swan to glide serenely, the feet have to kick like a motherfucker below the surface. The idea was to have a songbook before anything was recorded. No jamming. Texture, sonics and studio innovation are fine and thrilling, but superficial indulgence without good, solid songs.

Then the execution as rapidly as possible at AYR Studios, fuelled by the same agility that defined the songs on Hits To The Head. Few takes. The band in the room, playing together. That indescribable thing that happens when they do. The thrill of recording “The Birds” — one of the first songs they recorded — or thrashing out “The Doctor”’s deliriously energetic riff in about six minutes flat. Many of the vocals are the live takes, and those that aren’t were recorded under piles of coats, pillows and blankets in various bedrooms and cupboards across Paris, London, and Glasgow.

Overseeing the recording was producer Mark Ralph, a familiar collaborator who Franz Ferdinand worked with before on Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. He gets it. Every reference, no matter how obtuse. Effortless. A very easy relationship. A great musician himself — a classical guitar child prodigy turned jazz musician turned pop producer to the stars — but also a good laugh. It has to be a laugh. It needs to be fun: even if the subject matter is dark, the joy of making it brings it to life. His perspective was invaluable.

At the heart of Franz Ferdinand is the relationship between Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy. They formed the band while working in a kitchen together, initially as an idea, then dredging Glasgow for accomplices. It is still the ideas which excite them before any of the music is made. Julian Corrie’s presence as a collaborator is also strong on this record. Fingers faster than an arpeggiator. Then there’s the dirt and attitude of Dino Bardot’s guitar and the sharp freshness of Audrey Tait’s beat, both of whom are on a full Franz Ferdinand album for the first time.

The cover artwork was inspired by Hungarian artist Dóra Maurer’s self-portrait 7 Twists. The visual side of the band has always been as important to them as the sound, and Maurer’s work appealed because it does exactly what they want from their music: a striking immediacy that is impossible to ignore, but with a depth and vulnerability that bears many returns and satisfactory repetition.

Maybe this is a set of songs about fear. But maybe all that chat about Human Fear is superfluous. Maybe this is just a set of bangers from an era-defining band continuing their unquestionably living legacy. Is that something to be afraid of?

Living a life awake.

There is nothing that makes you feel more awake than The Human Fear.

An Evening with John Cusack
College Street Music Hall – 238 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510
September 19, 2026
Click here to purchase tickets

This evening includes a full screening of the 2000 film, High Fidelity, followed by a live conversation with John Cusack.

John Cusack

With an impressive body of work spanning the course of three decades, John Cusack has evolved into one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and respected actors of his generation, garnering both critical acclaim as well as prestigious accolades for his dramatic and comedic roles.

Most recently, Cusack appeared in the WWII spy film “Fog of War,” playing Robert, a conflicted intelligence officer navigating moral ambiguity during the war; “Detective Chinatown 1900,” a historical Chinese blockbuster directed by Chen Sicheng and Dai Mo; and Chinese espionage thriller “Decoded,” which focused on wartime code-breaking and intelligence.

In 2020, Cusack was seen in Prime Video’s SciFi series, “Utopia,” in which he stars as Dr. Kevin Christie, a charismatic, media-savvy, and brilliant biotech mind who wants to change the world through science. “Utopia” is based on Dennis Kelly’s British series of the same name and highly acclaimed author Gillian Flynn served as executive producer and showrunner.

Cusack first gained the attention of audiences by starring in a number of 1980’s film classics such as “The Sure Thing,” “Say Anything” and “Sixteen Candles.” Following these roles, Cusack successfully shed his teen-heartthrob image by demonstrating his ability to expand his film repertoire by starring in a wide range of dramas, thrillers and comedies including “The Grifters,” “Eight Men Out,” “Being John Malkovich,” “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Pointe Blank.”

In recent years, Cusack starred in Bill Pohland’s “Love and Mercy,” in which he played iconic Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson. Cusack starred opposite Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti as Wilson in the later years of his life. Cusack also starred in David Cronenberg’s, “Maps to the Stars” alongside Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The satirical drama is an analysis of the entertainment industry’s relationship with Western civilization as a whole.

Cusack also appeared in a supporting role in Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq,” alongside Teyonah Parris, Nick Cannon and Samuel L. Jackson, Lee Daniels’ drama, “The Paperboy,” opposite Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey and in James McTeigue’s independent thriller “The Raven,” where he portrayed the infamous author, Edgar Allen Poe.

Additionally, in 2009 he starred in Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic thriller, “2012.” Released by Sony

Pictures, the international blockbuster went on to gross more than $766 million worldwide.

In 2001, Cusack was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy orMusical for his role in the feature version of Nick Hornby’s English novel, “High Fidelity,” for Touchstone Pictures. In addition to starring in the film, Cusack also co-produced and co-wrote the script with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis. The film also stars Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joan Cusack.

In 1999, Cusack starred in the dark comedy “Being John Malkovich” for USA Films. Cusack’s

performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Actor.

Some of his other feature film credits include: “The Frozen Ground”, “Hot Tub Time Machine”, “War Inc.”, “Grace Is Gone”, “The Ice Harvest”, “Runaway Jury”, “Identity”, “Max”, “Cradle Will

Rock”, “The Thin Red Line”, “Con Air”, “City Hall”, “Bullets Over Broadway”, “The Road to

Wellville”, “True Colors”, “Broadcast News”, “Serendipity”, “Better Off Dead” and “Stand By Me.”

In April 2012, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presented Cusack with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, honoring his long, ground-breaking career in film.

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College Street Music Hall Weekly Round Up: Franz Ferdinand and An Evening with John Cusack announced