Live Review

Fontaines D.C. could be the best live band in the world right now

As frontman Grian Chatten struts onto stage in huge bug-eyed sunglasses, motioning the crowd to give it some welly, it's clear the band are relishing their success. If the thousands of lads screaming the instrumentals of each song like they're football chants are anything to go by, the crowd feel the same way.

Words:Jake Hawkes

Photos:Patrick Gunning

'Jackie Down the Line’ gets a reception bordering on volcanic, while 'Big Shot' prompts a singalong which is probably audible several postcodes away. Even away from the crowd-assisted choruses, the crowd is in the palm of the band's hand - 'Bug' prompts a flare down the front and more mosh pits than most bands see in their entire set, while 'Sundowner' sees Curley step up for vocals to a mammoth cheer.

While it's incredible that no matter how much the crowd swells at each Fontaines gig, they all still know every word to cuts from the first album, this is clearly a band who are streets away from where they started. Grian said way back in our 2020 interview with the band that the difficulty with touring their debut was "There were so many songs like ‘Hurricane Laughter’... and sometimes I don’t feel like ‘Hurricane Laughter’," and with a setlist which draws from every album they've released, it's an issue they've long overcome.

Fontaines D.C. could be the best live band in the world right now

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