TORONTO - Early on in the night, Born Ruffians drummer Steven Hamelin articulated what everyone else was thinking.

"It's crazy that you're seeing Franz Ferdinand in a venue this small," he said, taking a break between songs during his band's opening set at Lee's Palace. "You're very lucky."

Lucky is right, since tickets for Thursday night's show sold out in under a minute for the 600-person capacity venue.

Franz Ferdinand, the Glasgow, Scotland-based band that struck it big with Take Me Out nearly five years ago, are playing smaller shows during the next two months before releasing their highly anticipated third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, at the end of January.

After quickly transitioning from their 2004 debut to the following year's You Could Have It So Much Better, the dance-rock four-piece took their time for their newest record, writing dance-friendly songs and road-testing them in sweaty pub basements.

Born Ruffians, the little band that could from Midland, Ont., opened Thursday's show with digital trickery, as frontman Luke Lalonde fiddled with pedals to loop his guitars and vocals. Bassist Mitch DeRosier also got in on the fun, sliding the strings of his bass along a mic stand at one point. They delivered a tight set, with Lalonde's high-pitched voice yelping across tunes such as Barnacle Goose and Foxes Mate For Life.

Franz Ferdinand took the stage 30 minutes later, starting with Bite Hard, a new tune that features guitarist Nick McCarthy playing a synthesizer. Indeed, McCarthy's frequent use of synth on the newer tracks, including Ulysses and Live Alone -- hinted at the prominent role of keyboards on the forthcoming record.

When the group performed the familiar Do You Want To, audience members grinned and sang along, likely relating to the lyrics, "lucky, lucky, you're so lucky."

Next, during Turn It On, frontman Alex Kapranos rattled a pair of shakers while maintaining an utterly serious face, something that most people probably wouldn't be able to pull off.

Kapranos, blessed with an inherent coolness, wore all black for the night, except for a shiny silver belt buckle.

"Are you alright?" The charismatic singer asked at one point. He inspired a surprisingly deafening answer from the crowd, considering there were only enough people to fill a movie theatre.

But instead of a cinema floor littered with popcorn kernels -- the building was actually a movie theatre in the '60s -- the dancefloor was packed with swaggering music fans. Patrons danced to newer songs even when they didn't know the words, proving the band nailed the party-album feel on the upcoming record.

Indeed, people spent the entire 75-minute set moving to the beat, as if a wind was blowing from the back of the venue and repeatedly nudging everyone forward like swaying rows of trees.

The band gave the crowd a four-song encore, ending the night with a pounding version of This Fire. Fans shouted along with the chorus -- "This fire is out of control, I'm going to burn this city, burn this city" -- and pumped their fists in the air, the stage lights illuminating dozens of pit stains.

Patrons left the building as an energetic mob, exploding on to Bloor St. like an out-of-control fire, and likely feeling rather fortunate after seeing a big band in such a tiny place.

Lucky, lucky ... oh, you know the rest.