Fontaines D.C. in Glasgow

By Evelyn Donnelly

 
 

I have been to shows where the performers were too quiet, they mumbled, they changed lyrics or chords at the last minute, they left the stage too early, or they excluded beloved songs from their setlists. Fontaines D.C. did none of these things. With infectious energy and unrelenting emotion, the band flooded the venue with the strum of their electric guitars, mostly alternating between songs from their newest album Romance and Skinty Fia (2022), with a few honorable mentions from A Hero’s Death (2020) and Dogrel (2019).  

The doors of the OVO Hydro in Glasgow opened at 6:30 PM, with crowds of people streaming in from cars and trains with my friends and I to grab some merch and a few pints before the beginning of the opening act, Sorry. The enchanting guitar of Sorry’s indie sound echoed through the stadium as we attempted to find our seats, observing the attire of our fellow concertgoers. 

Most of the crowd was close in age to me, with both guys and girls wearing a variety of styles. Many of the guys could be seen in baggy jeans and trousers, wearing doc martens or adidas, paired with either a mullet, a moustache, or both. The girls oscillated between wearing mini skirts and boots and baggy attire, similar to the guys. Some people sported previous concert merch, showing off their dedication to the band. The rest of the crowd was older, with some who were old enough to be my parents. 

After forty minutes Sorry left the stage, leaving the crowd to wait nearly another hour for the main act to appear. With a pale sheet cast over the bright green lights of the stage, the band began to play the haunting chords of the titular song from their new album, ‘Romance’, to raucous cheers from the crowd. From the intense swell of the song, vocalist Grian Chatten launched straight into the crowd-pleaser ‘Jackie Down the Line’, and all the fun began. Each song became a treat, the moments of anticipation between them containing worlds of delight. Even songs I didn’t know the words to were filled with energy and I could feel the passion the band had for their music. Their performance sounded almost exactly like their recordings, if not better. Even songs that usually did not appeal to me, like ‘Desire’, were filled with so much raw talent that I became inclined towards them. A few highlights for me were their performance of songs like ‘Boys In the Better Land’, one of the first songs I loved by them, ‘Roman Holiday’, ‘Sundowner’, and ‘Nabokov’.

Although my position in the nosebleeds detracted from the experience, it was interesting to watch the crowd as they swayed back and forth, jumped up and down, and occasionally cleared space for a mosh pit, as they did during ‘Here’s the Thing’. The intense bright blues, reds, and greens, and soft purples, pinks and oranges of the lights were cast over these many heads while they danced, creating a uniting representation of the joy caused by Fontaines D.C. and their music. 

Setlist: 

  1. Romance 

  2. Jackie Down the Line 

  3. Televised Mind 

  4. A Lucid Dream

  5. Roman Holiday 

  6. Big Shot 

  7. Death Kink 

  8. Sundowner 

  9. Big 

  10. Hurricane Laughter 

  11. Here’s the Thing 

  12. Bug 

  13. Horseness Is the Whatness 

  14. Nabokov 

  15. Boys in the Better Land 

  16. Favourite 

Encore: 

  1. In the Modern World 

  2. Desire 

  3. I Love You 

  4. Starburster