LIVE REVIEW | FONTAINES D.C. | GLASGOW OVO HYDRO 04/12/2024 by Anne Kelly

Whatever Fontaines D.C. laced their fourth album effort, Romance, with this year, it’s got us all hooked. Their biggest release to date, even surpassing the No. 1 charting album Skinny Fia [2022] in terms of popularity, has transformed the Dubin five piece forever.

Hailed by both the industry and music fans as a formidable contender for 2024’s Album of the Year, Romance seems to have captured the attention of a new generation of fans worldwide. Fontaines D.C., however, choose to stay modest and avoid becoming overly enamored with the publicity. An arena tour perhaps seemed overly ambitious of a a band who last played two nights at the 2.5K cap O2 Academy during their previous trip to Glasgow, but they set their sights high and this time around they sold out and performed to nearly 14,000 fans at Scotland’s largest indoor arena, the OVO Hydro.

Those who got down early enough, they could enjoy the warmth and catchy sounds of support band Sorry, but for those of us who arrived on the wrong side of 8pm, there was nothing of the sorts to warm us up. Stuck waiting over 40 minutes queuing outside the venue, it’s down to the small but vocal group of activists who were riding on the wave of Carlos’ (O’Connell) recent soapbox headline at this year’s Rolling Stone Awards (“the one with the pink hair” the speaker repeatedly reiterates). Shouting “FREE, FREE PALESTINE” against a backdrop of rain and icy gales, it’s a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, and the activist’s message was sobering enough to mute any frustrations. Overhearing “they won’t start the show with people still outside, will they?” from a couple behind me, I fear the same but fortunately, the band pushes back ten minutes, and the eerie sounds of ‘Romance’ steadily fill the entire arena just as I ascend the stone staircases of the hydro. Finally, it’s time immerse myself and discover if “maybe romance is a place” after all.

Anticipation builds until the last few moments of ‘Romance‘, when the curtain falls to reveal the band of the moment. Despite being sat up with the gods, the impact is just as spine-tingling. The room is absolutely buzzing with love and energy for this band and looking at all the tiny wee heads bopping up and down on the floor like popcorn feels as surreal as it sounds.

The set list pays homage to Fontaines D.C. across the years with snippets from all four studio albums. Yet it’s the tours namesake Romance which dominates and fits as neat as a glove in an arena. The cinematic nature belongs on a big stage and whilst I would much prefer to be in a more intimate setting for the show, the band couldn’t look more at ease in such a grand space. ‘Jackie Down The Line’, ‘Televised Mind’, ‘Roman ‘Holiday’, ‘A Lucid Dream’ and ‘Big Shot’ take the crowd through the years first, before their latest incarnation is drip fed and intertwined at pivotal moments in the show. ‘Death Kink’ rouses a strong reaction from the crowd, capturing the extent of the influence that this last album has had on their growing crowd numbers.

‘Big’ takes us right back to the beginning and again and watching the swarms of bodies bouncing down below is awe-inspiring. “My childhood was small, But I’m gonna be big” Grian repeats – a statement which rang true tonight.

Glasgow is the penultimate stop on the tour which has seen the boys on the road for the past three months. Coming straight off their busiest festival season yet and powering right into the album launch, the Dublin band have barely halted. Taking on North America, Europe and now Britain, the band present one of the most polished live shows I have ever witnessed. These guys could pull this off in their sleep by now, but they don’t – they ensure every ounce of passion is still felt and still manage to pull out tour exclusives with a surprise rendition of ‘Hurricane Laughter’ (dedicated to Simon) from their debut album. A nod to their long standing bond with this city and the die hard fans who have walked this journey with them.

The highlights of the show definitely come from the later end of the night. ‘Bug’ and ‘Horseness Is The Whatness’ are great to hear live for the first time (to my ears at least) and retain the magic they held on the album. ‘Boys In The Better Land’ never fails to erupt live and even player such a huge setting doesn’t take away the character of the iconic Fontaines song. Finally, ‘Favourite’ rounds up the show before the band walk off just to return again a few minutes later to roars of applause.

A four track encore concludes with ‘I Love You’ ahead of arguably the best release of the year ‘Starburster’. A song which captivates just as much live as it does through your record speakers, ‘Starburster’ will no doubt becomes their legacy in decades to come. If you haven’t been out to see Fontaines D.C. yet then make sure to fire it on your 2025 bucket list when the lads step it up another gear and grow even bigger.