Live Report: Fontaines D.C. – Alexandra Palace, London

The long – at times almost endless – gap without live music in our lives engendered a form of nostalgia for the gigging experience, a kind of warmth for the gentle buzz of the communal thrill of witnessing live music. Confronted with an epic queue at North London’s Alexandra Palace, that nostalgia did begin to dim somewhat, replaced with the rather more accurate, slightly more mundane memories of what live music is all about.

Finally entering to the strains of ‘Sha Sha Sha’, Clash finds a band who have clearly fine-tuned the smallest parts of their performance engine. Fontaines D.C. have stepped up a gear, with the enforced lay-off of the pandemic seemingly allowing the group space to gel further, matching an intense sense of purpose to a broader use of space.

Blasting through highlights from both of their essential studio albums, Fontaines D.C. shatter ear-drums with ‘Chequeless’ and ‘You Said’ before segueing into ‘I Don’t Belong’. It’s a performance with vim and energy, matching the sloping bass lines of Conor Deegan to shards of noise erupting from that dual-guitar line up, like a twin-operated sheet metal cutter blasting industrial sparks out over the North London crowd.

‘A Hero’s Death’ highlight ‘Living In America’ is greeted rapturously, while debut album warhorse ‘Hurricane Laughter’ is beefed up, it’s skeletal framework amplified by the intensity of the performance. Indeed, it’s a testament to the vitality of both band and material that their debut retains such an indefinable spark – even the oft-performed ‘Boys In The Better Land’ (which closes the main part of the show) purrs with a revv’d up acceleration.  

The encore opens with a glimpse of what is to come, and it’s one of the evening’s most special moments. Ostensibly titled ‘I Love You’ this new song feels truly three-dimensional, Fontaines D.C. earning the courage to let space exist as an instrument within their songwriting; flashes of light emerge, while the exquisite guitar lines put you in mind of lost 80s greats The Chameleons. It’s something special, for sure.

A double-bill of ‘Roy’s Tune’ and ‘Liberty Belle’ bring the set to its conclusion, a compact headline outing from a band whose catalogue to date doesn’t contain a single mis-step. As the crowds exit, and the long, long wait for a bus begins, there’s enough room to ponder on what Fontaines D.C. have achieved, and the flickering reality of the live experience; the thirst for communion, and the often clinical spaces these are housed in.

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Words: Robin Murray

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