LIVE: Fontains D.C. @ Rock City Nottingham. 12/10/21

Review and photography by: Jonathan Taylor

Instagram: jonathantaylorphotography

Nearing the back end of an extensive 20 date UK tour, Fontaines D.C.’s next port of call is the iconic Rock City in Nottingham.

It is immediately clear on arrival that as a band the Dublin outfit have captured the imagination of both young and old, as the crowd in the venue spans the generations, which is testament to their musical prowess and capabilities captured on their Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Dogrel’ and Grammy nominated second album ‘A Hero’s Death’.

As the house lights fade the venue erupts as the band take to the stage throwing stems of flowers into the crowd, who are all reaching with arms aloft, desperate to catch one of the floral souvenirs.

The evening opens with ‘A Hero’s Death’ during which front man Grian Chatten blasts out his unique poetic vocal delivery between which he prowls the stage with an unpredictable intensity. The set continues with the beautifully chaotic ‘Lucid Dream’, followed by ‘Sha Sha Sha’, and ‘Chequeless Reckless’.

More down tempo brooding moments see the likes of ‘I Don’t Belong’ and ‘The Lotts’, which perfectly demonstrated the capabilities of Fontaines D.C. when exploring more serene territories when their foot isn’t pressed so firmly on the accelerator.

It’s not long before the intensity gathers momentum with ‘Living In America’, the wonderfully menacing ‘Hurricane Laughter’ and ‘Too Real’, during which huge white circular balloons are launched into the crowd from the balcony and front pit, which elevates the joyous crowd to a celebratory sense of unified musical togetherness.

The evening continues with the anthemic ‘Big’, ‘Televised Mind’ and ‘Boys In The Better Land’, during which there is only what can be best described as a tsunami of crowd surfers which keeps the front of house staff busy as they reach the front pit in varying intervals!

The crowd get the opportunity for a breather during the perfectly delicate ‘Roy’s Tune’ which is an absolute delight after which, the evening draws to a close with the same intensity as it began with the fan favourite ‘Liberty Belle’.

Fontaines D.C. are without question in a class of their own. They delivered a live performance to a level that no doubt their musical peers can only look on with admiration. Their performance was intensely thunderous, tumultuous, energetic and demonstrated raw punk poetry at its finest. The lads from Dublin can relevel victorious, floating in a stratosphere on their own for some time, because in terms of musical invention no one is coming close.