Fontaines D.C. bring their A-game for night two of their Manchester Academy stint
The critically-acclaimed group provide their audience with an emotive, sharp and energetic set of tracks from both their albums at the second of three long-awaited shows in Manchester.
Photo: Abbie Jennings
As the lights go down over the packed out crowd at Fontaines D.C.’s second of three gigs in Manchester, the eagerness of the audience is evident in every corner of the room. There are groups of friends grabbing each other in sheer elation, with people wasting no time in hoisting each other onto shoulders; this show has been long-awaited, and it’s already obvious that the night is going to live up to every expectation.
Entering the stage with a calm, confident swagger is frontman Grian Chatten, with the band launching into the title track of their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death. Fontaines D.C. certainly aren’t one of those bands where you have to wait a few songs for the set to really get going; as soon as Chatten sang into the microphone for the first time, the atmosphere was indescribable.
The excitement truly took a-hold of me as the band transitioned into the start of A Lucid Dream, which is, in my opinion, quite possibly the band’s best song. The track is very much drummer Tom Coll’s moment to shine, with the chaotic build-up in the middle of the song being brought to life as the audience descended into circle pits, with heads bouncing all over the place (though I wasn’t so pleased about the pint that got thrown over my hair!).
This impassioned reaction from the crowd only continued throughout the set, as the Dublin-based post-punk outfit showcased their sheer talent as musicians as debut album tracks, such as the seemingly heavily Joy Division-inspired The Lotts and absolute stomper Big received some of the biggest sing-alongs of the night.
While some artists like to interact with the audience at their gigs by chatting and telling jokes, there isn’t really much of this in Fontaines’ set – they don’t need it. The songs, which are played here to perfection, speak for themselves. There were a few fun moments where the band joined in with the crowd’s antics, such as when Coll began to drum along to a chant concerning a certain former prime minister being “in the mud”.
After rounding off the main part of the set with Boys In The Better Land, the quintet returned to the stage to play the emotive, slower number Roy’s Tune before closing the night with fan-favourite Liberty Belle; two tracks which had not been performed the night before, in a lucky twist of fate for those who copped tickets for tonight’s show.
The gig was, simply put, outstanding. If you ever go to see Fontaines D.C., the last thing you could possibly be is underwhelmed. With a third album in the works and the talent to translate their songs into a live show so magnificently, there’s no doubt we will definitely be talking about this band for a long time to come. They’re gonna be big.
