Fontaines D.C. first headlined Alexandra Palace back in 2021. Back then, the Dublin-formed five-piece were still acclaimed up-and-comers, dispatching poetry-laced post-punk with an almost ascetic earnestness. On Friday they returned as bonafide rock stars, having undergone a bold stylistic shift for their fourth album, the newly Grammy-nominated Romance.
Exploring the band’s more outré instincts, the record’s anthemic mix of paranoid indie and panoramic goth ballads has been accentuated by a brash new sartorial direction, based around vivid hair dye, wrap-around bug shades and voluminous pants. It transpires that the same spirit of playful reinvention extends to their live show, which brought – what the band have billed as – their “first real studio album” roaring into life.
Starting with the slow creep of Romance’s title track, the performance began behind a curtain, which dropped at the climax to reveal the band beneath their logo and the warped heart from the album cover. The song’s swirling atmospherics served to cue up a beefed-up rendition of Skinty Fia-cut Jackie Down The Line, during which frontman Grian Chatten swaggered behind Bono-like shades.
Despite barely speaking between songs – except to utter ‘Free Palestine’ five songs in – Chatten made for a compelling focal point, his intense presence matched by powerful vocals. For Here’s The Thing, the vocal melody was hugged by Carlos O'Connell vicious axe work. During Bug it made a sweet companion to the minor key jangle of rhythm guitar.
Thanks to five years of near-relentless touring, Fontaines are an incredibly tight live unit. Dogrel-classic Boys In The Better Land was dispatched at a breakneck pace, inspiring manic pogoing from the front half of the venue. Similarly, the beatific bars of Favourite received a hero’s welcome, while A Lucid Dream came complete with football chant-style audience participation.
We remained as rapt during the set’s slower moments. In The Modern World offered big southern gothic energy with its swirling synths and descending guitar runs, and the inky bass rumble of I Love You proved as intoxicating as ever. Even when sound issues disrupted the encore, the band quickly regained momentum, launching into a visceral version of the panic attack-inspired single Starburster. Watching Chatten twist to the song’s baggy beats, we were reminded once again of just how much fun the band are having in this latest era. Honestly, the feeling’s mutual.
On tour
