Following the release of their fourth studio album, Romance, the Dublin five-piece Fontaines D.C. are now a band who need no introduction. Given countless five-star ratings, critical acclaim, and a position on just about every album of the year 2024 list, Romance saw the band swap a cult-like following for mainstream appreciation, Adidas for Simone Rocha, and Partisan Records for XL Recordings. Standing amidst the crowd packed into the warehouse at Aviva studios, the shift was palpable, with a sea of men with mullets and Adidas track jackets crammed into the space on the final night of the outfit’s three-show residency.
London-based 5-piece Sorry provided support for the evening; screens plastered with the question ‘Who the fuck is Sorry’ accompanied the quintet’s emergence onstage. The question seemed fitting, as the set saw the band exchange their indie sound, one characterised by mellow vocals and understated guitars, for an electronic influence — one foreign to their previous sonic identity. Pulsating basslines coated in distorted synths brought zeal to a discography that perhaps previously didn’t translate to a live music setting, whilst lead singer Asha Lorenz’s vocals haunted the scene, distorted and obscure.
A shift mimicking their successors was evident in Sorry's recruitment of a synth player, as well as the electronic pads the drummer boasted. However, these modifications worked in their favour, enhancing nuances in established guitar riffs or drum beats to create a rigorous electronic sound that had the audience in the palm of their hand for the duration of their forty-minute set. Utilising this opening slot to experiment with a new sound before their spring UK tour, Sorry succeeded in generating excitement and anticipation amongst new music fans in the room.
9 pm. The now instantly recognisable silhouette of guitarist Carlos O’Connell hunched over a setup of keyboards and wires emerged on a sheet obscuring the stage. The album’s title track, Romance, begins, with the shadow of each member gradually appearing as the quintet take to the stage. The crowd’s anticipation grew as the song climaxed with enthralling basslines and Grian Chatten’s signature shouts, before the sheet dropped in a brat-style reveal of the Dublin outfit.
Whilst the rest of the band seemed to have shifted away from the Cyberdog editorial look, Chatten could still be seen sporting a leather kilt complete with block red tights and raver sunglasses. The set design accompanying the Dublin punks was nothing short of spectacular, with the abstract heart that defines the artwork of Romance surfacing as a large-scale balloon hanging centre stage.
Cheers of excitement following the drop quickly morphed into a frenzied whirl as Tom Coll’s drums swept the crowd into standout single from Skinty Fia ‘Jackie Down The Line’. A dive into the band's classics continued as disorientating red and blue flashing lights accompanied the instantly recognisable bassline of ‘Televised Mind’.
‘A Lucid Dream’ saw the mosh in the middle of the crowd rippling to each corner of the warehouse in a euphoric frenzy, while Coll’s relentless drumming, most notably on tracks from the band's sophomore album, fuelled the uncompromising energy of the crowd. A testament to the tenacity of their fans, the crowd’s energy was palpable even on a Sunday night, never faltering for even a minute and only encouraged by the two-minute blizzard of Dogrel’s opening track ‘Big’, which fired into its sister title track ‘A Hero’s Death’.
Perhaps it was the crowd's palpable buzz or the stamina required to play three consecutive nights, but the passion of those in attendance had to compensate for an, at times, inanimate and low-energy performance from Chatten. However, Romance marked the biggest shift in the band’s sound so far, and with this, an evolution in performance style is set to accompany. During a moment of respite, screens either side of the band panned to O’Connell’s guitar, the words "Free Palestine" pasted across it. As the audience erupted into a chant of the same phrase, the first words of the evening were spoken by Chatten:"Free Palestine you fucking legends".
A return to Romance followed the extensive return to previous hits, with the weeping guitars of ‘Bug’ filling each corner of the venue. ‘Favourite’, arguably the group's most mainstream hit yet, enabled a surge of shoulder surfers and friends, on average six beers deep, wailing the lyrics to each other. Post-encore, the quintet indulged in the melancholy side of Romance, returning to the stage with ‘In The Modern World’ and ‘Desire’. Hypnotic synths on both tracks saw an audience entranced by the complexity of their new sound; it was moments like this where the group's lower energy worked in their favour, but whether this is an active choice remains the question.
Skinty Fia’s standout number ‘I Love You’ provided the penultimate track for the night. Perhaps the group's best lyrical efforts to date, piercing lyrics echoed into every corner of the hall. As the final strum of Deego’s bass was played, the stage lit up in the colours of the Irish flag: pride towards their heritage is perhaps the only constant throughout their musical evolution, and the Fontaines D.C. live show only affirmed this further.
It was only fitting to end the night with Romance’s first single, ‘Starburster’, with the distinctive synths ringing out into the audience, accompanied by fluorescent green lights that coated both stage and audience. The group’s lack of indulgence throughout earlier moments of the set was not present here, with the final chorus extending in a blur of lights, distorted guitars, and abrasive synths. As the crowd erupted into a final hysterical applause, out of breath and coated in sweat, the euphoria that the quintet’s live shows provide was more than evident.
Fontaines D.C. remain a tour de force within the post-punk scene, demonstrating an ability to evolve consistently and pioneer whichever style of music they're trying their hand at. Despite Chatten's low-energy performance throughout the majority of his band's three-night Manchester residency, their live show also demonstrated this: here's to hoping Fontaines don't leave it too long before their return.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1eKVHMQJt9UVkuOb4gE3wy?si=TwGy4Y9gSuyybaZERLpVRA
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