On a stormy night in Dublin, Fontaines D.C. seemed determined to outdo the elements, delivering a show that was both refined and wonderfully cathartic…
It had been almost four years since I watched Fontaines D.C. slay Brixton Academy in London. That was just before the world shut down.
Well, it was before a lot of things. Before Fontaines’ sophomore, A Hero’s Death, landed them a Grammy-nomination. Before their third album, Skinty Fia, achieved No. 1 on the Irish and UK albums chart. Before their Romance record, which they are touring now, garnered two more Grammy nods. Before they became everybody’s favourite band. And I mean, literally, everybody. At least, that’s the way it seems.
That night in Brixton, in February 2020, their debut, Dogrel, wasn’t yet a year old. They had only one LP to draw on, but they were damn good, sneak-previewing cuts from their second record – including the title track, ‘Televised Mind’, ‘A Lucid Dream’, ‘Love Is the Main Thing’ and ‘Living in America’. A shapeshifting masterclass, the gig confirmed that Fontaines D.C. were definitely not going be anybody’s dancing bear.
The mutations have continued apace. Storm Darragh – who’s he when he’s not wrecking the joint? – may be raging outside, but as the feeling of anticipation grows exponentially inside the venue, the band preparing backstage to brew up a hurricane in 3Arena is an altogether different beast than of old. When the curtain – the band play the title track of Romance behind it – opens, it is to reveal an outfit intent on inducing ecstasy, in a Dublin audience that is more than up for the adventure.
In Dogrel days, the intensity of the band’s performance, captivating as it was, evoked a sense of anxiety: you wondered how they could possibly sustain this level of potent ferocity set after set, night after night.
Tonight, it is different. Fontaines D.C. appear to be cherishing the gig, the sonic narrative of which is more measured, cresting and soaring with greater impact. The quartet of Curley, Chatten, Deegan and O’Connell are spread across the front of the stage, with drummer Tom Coll sat behind, powering the band through a remarkably diverse set of styles, the eclectic Chilli Jesson, ex-of Palma Violets, on his right shoulder, adding to the oomph.
The monstrous bass of ‘Televised Mind’ rumbles through us. Coll, in simple white vest, with tattooed limbs, introduces ‘A Lucid Dream’ with gunshot snare and echoing hi-hat, the crowd humming the melody, Deego yelping a feline roar at song’s end.
The musical space allowed on ‘Roman Holiday’ is wonderful, Curley’s ringed fingers picking out the notes before the band pirouettes into ‘Big Shot’, the stage doused in electric blue. ‘Death Kink’, from Romance, receives one hell of a reception. ‘Sundowner’ allows for a breather, before the roof-lifting ‘Big’ – its amalgam of punky intensity and waltz-y swing, still enthralling.
The latter’s old Dogrel buddy ‘Hurricane Laughter’ gets a rare airing, which is marvellous. Its circular, whirling dervish movement has the crowd in raptures, Grian delivering a garrulous version of it, while Chilli pops out for a well-earned tea break.
We’re zipping along now. The electric salvo which opens ‘Here’s The Thing’ seems to electrocute the audience who cry out “Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!” to Coll’s introductory ‘Bug’ kick-drum and then sway and sing – “Honey, I’d changed before you, yeah, 28 years are coming to end” – which perhaps divulges much.
Midway through the set, they perform ‘Horseness Is the Whatness’. The line – “Will someone find out what the word is, that makes the world go round? ‘Cause I thought it was love” – encapsulates much of the essence of Romance.
An artistic statement about self-preservation and adoration, and a fantastical prism through which to view the world, it’s a moment when the band willingly expose their vulnerability. A thousand phones light the arena and things get all warm and Christmassy.
The D.C. switch gears with the heave of ‘Nabokov’ – Carlos with Simonon-style low-slung guitar etching the track into shape, while Deego’s devilishly high vocal rises above the inferno.
‘Boys in the Better Land’ brings the balcony to its feet, fizzing the crowd into a fervour: the song that finally delivered the band that Dublin had long been waiting for, still packs a colossal punch.
They wrap on the majestic ‘Favourite’, before returning to conduct a mass singalong on the absolute gem that is ‘In The Modern World’: the Grian/Deego duet, with attendant harmonies, is simply mighty. As is the choral homily of ‘Desire’ – before Tom Coll comes in pounding, cracking open the double entendre encased in the song, the whole shebang laced with slicing synths.
Screams of delight greet ‘I Love You’, a former self of Grian scraping sweat, dragging the mic, circling the stage, calling out entrenched political hegemonies before rolling out the High Mass finale of ‘Starbuster’.
Fontaines D.C. strut off into the night, their triumphant homecoming complete. Dublin City won’t see many better shows this decade – if any.
