Fontaines D.C.

Good things come to those who wait. That’s been said about many musicians over time, and in the case of Irish rock group Fontaines D.C, they are certainly no exception. In the space of a year, the band’s popularity has skyrocketed tenfold - not that they weren’t well known or anything, but the release of their fourth studio album ‘Romance’ in 2024 has proved to be a turning point in their career. They’re now top-dog and amongst the biggest bands in the world, commanding stadium-sized crowds almost as fast as Grian sings the verse on ‘Boys in the Better Land’. Tonight is the biggest show they had ever played in Manchester with 35,000 attendees, coming not long after the band drew 45,000 attendees to their biggest ever show at Finsbury Park in London a month earlier. With this level of demand, there is bound to be a degree of expectation, and mine was certainly high. But as the band open their set with ‘Here’s The Thing’, I knew that the band were about to show why they are THE thing in the rock scene at the moment. 

Immediately from the beginning, there;s a certain swagger present about the band, fronted by the charismatic Grian Chatten. Donning an Oasis ‘Live Forever’ t-shirt and a long skirt, he grab the crowd by the palm of his hand, assisted by the high-octane opening section of ‘Jackie Down the Line’, ‘Televised Mind’ and ‘Boys in the Better Land’. Fans are on shoulders, flares are being let off and mosh pits erupt - there is a cathartic energy that is carried across the field, and the band let the fans do their thing. The energy slows down a little to let us catch our breaths, but not without the massive singalongs of ‘Roman Holiday’ and the popular ‘Romance’ B-side ‘It’s Amazing to be Young’. It’s tunes like these where the rest of the band get their own unique chance to shine; fan-favourite guitarist Carlos O’Connell provides phenomenal guitar work with his melodies, while Conor ‘Deego’ Deegan III’s backing vocals elevate the depth of each song. Even guitarist Conor Curley gets his own time in the spotlight, doing the first verse of ‘Before You I Just Forget’.

As mentioned in the tagline, the band really don’t speak much. Grian takes a moment to thank the Manchester crowd and dedicate ‘It’s Amazing to be Young’ to opening act Kneecap, but apart from that, the only other words that come out of his mouth are the songs that he sings. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; after all, you pay to go to a concert to listen to the music. However, watching Sam Fender play the same venue the next day, he’s a lot more open and connecting with the crowd, even mentioning at one point that he wished the stage wasn’t as far from the audience so that he could be closer to the action. It’s little things like this that give the crowd a good laugh and a good memory from the night, and while I’m not saying the band are sterile and lifeless on stage, a bit of witty banter can go a long way. Nevertheless, the band is able to capture the raw energy of their earlier work, while also complimenting it nicely with the more melancholic moments of ‘Romance’ - songs like ‘Motorcycle Boy’ and ‘Desire’ are split by moments of madness like ‘Big’ and ‘Hurricane Laughter’, though it doesn’t quite pay off (not at fault of the band). With the rapid growth of Fontaines being spearheaded by their newest album, it naturally resulted in an influx of new fans that became attached to them because of their most recent work. That meant when ‘Hurricane Laughter’ and ‘Big’ came on, two tunes from their debut album ‘Dogrel’, there are a few murmurs amongst the crowd and a few statements of “I’ve never heard this song before”.

Thankfully, this doesn’t bother Grian in the slightest as he subsequently utters “Manchester, you’re my favourite”, before diving into ‘Favourite’. A song that almost feels timeless and evokes a sense of nostalgia, I still get dumbfounded that it only came out a year ago. As reflected by the loud choir of the Manchester crowd, this is a tune that will be long sung in the next 10-20 years. What follows is what felt like the longest wait for an encore, with rustling guitar distortion and perplexing visuals of a ‘Romance’ snowglobe and a statue of a pig. However, once the band returns to stage with the Bond-esque title track from ‘Romance’, normality is restored. They begin the encore with ‘In the Modern World’ and ‘I Love You’, the latter being an absolute masterclass in songwriting. Belting out the bridge alongside Grian and the Manchester faithful is arguably the most special moment of the night. Closing the show with ‘Starburster’ gives one last opportunity for the band to shine: Grian’s vocal delivery, Conor Curley’s piano work, Tom Coll’s electronic-like drum work and Carlos O’Connell playing the iconic synth motif. This is a band that has everything going for it. A few things need ironing out, but given how unexpected but pleasant their sharp rise has been, I’m happy to give them the time they need to find their feet playing for crowds as big as these. One thing is for sure though: this is just the beginning of what this incredible group of lads from Dublin are capable of.