The Day Franz Ferdinand's Frontman Was Mistaken As A Spy

06/02/2011
. (Gibson) On this day in 2005, Franz Ferdinand's frontman, Alex Kapranos was detained by Russian police after being suspected of being a spy. Gibson takes a look back: Bizarre and unusual events and rock and roll have always gone go hand in hand but when rock band Franz Ferdinand headed to Moscow in the summer of 2005, lead singer Alex Kapranos was about to become embroiled in an espionage saga straight from the pages of Ian Fleming 007 frolic.

On this day in 2005, singer Kapranos and band had played to packed crowds in St. Petersburg and Moscow and were now preparing to jet off to New York to work on tracks for their next album. Not so fast.

Immigration officers at Domodedovo airport in Moscow stopped Kapranos, having seen his name flagged on a "no-fly" list of passengers not to be allowed to travel to the U.S. The official told Kapranos he was a "high level security risk." more on this story

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