3Arena, Dublin
It has been a remarkable year for Fontaines DC, what with a change of musical direction on their critically adored and Grammy-nominated fourth album, Romance, and sold-out shows across the UK and Europe. Could there be a better way to celebrate than with a pair of hometown shows?
Seven years ago, they played their first gig in front of 25 people. On Friday night, there are 14,000 present, although many more would be here if capacity obliged, and they play with a strut and confidence befitting a band considered by many to be one of the contemporary greats.
Being a formidable live proposition was the band’s stock in trade even in the early days but, still, one can only marvel at how they have grown to easily command this sizeable venue. Grian Chatten is a born frontman, right down to the bug-eyed shades he sports for the first part of the show. He keeps chatter to a minimum, preferring to let the music speak.
Unlike many of today’s bands, Fontaines DC is not simply a vehicle for the singer. This is very much a full band affair
All but one track from Romance is played and the songs bristle with energy. The show starts with the stark title track, before fan favourite Jackie Down the Line and a raucous Televised Mind raise the temperature.
Unlike many of today’s bands, Fontaines DC is not simply a vehicle for the singer. This is very much a full band affair, with guitarist Conor Curley and multi-instrumentalist Carlos O’Connell putting in quite the shift, while Conor Deegan on bass and drummer Tom Coll ensure the performance has a thrilling muscularity. The robustness of the sound is augmented by English touring musician Chilli Jesson, who flits from keys to guitar.
The full force of the band’s energy is captured on a gloriously frenetic Hurricane Laughter while Big, the opening song on their much admired debut album Dogrel, is rapturously delivered.
The best is yet to come, however. Ever since its 2019 release, Boys in the Better Land, has been hailed as a classic, one that’s very much part of the canon of the best Irish rock songs. And it’s delivered with gusto here, the crowd keeping pace with Chatton’s rapid-fire singing.
It’s straight into another of their best songs, but their rendition of Favourite feels a little off and doesn’t quite capture the majesty of the recorded version. It’s not the only song that doesn’t quite connect, but on the whole, they’re in exemplary form.
A Palestine flag is draped from the keyboard at the front of the stage and, at one point, it’s deliberately captured on the big screens while the band stamp out a beat and the audience chant “Free Palestine”.
Politics of a more local hue arrives during the encore with a furious rendition of I Love You. It’s notable that one line in particular — “the gall of Fine Gael and the fail of Fianna Fáil” — is especially loudly sung by the predominately young crowd. Although each member lives outside Ireland now, their pride in their Irishness is clear — from the green, white and orange tape on Chatton’s microphone to the Monaghan GAA crest on Curley’s guitar and the braided Mayo red and green that’s tied to the neck of Deegan’s bass.
The set finishes with the startling Starburster — a nu-metal creation that’s far better than mention of that lame genre suggests. It was inspired by Chatton’s experience of a frightening panic attack. There’s no such worries here, and as the performance reaches its end, it feels like a Fontaines victory lap.
