Fontaines D.C. + Toy
On a relatively unsuspecting, grey Monday evening the critically acclaimed Fontaines D.C. returned to Norwich for the second time.
On a relatively unsuspecting, grey Monday evening the critically acclaimed Fontaines D.C. returned to Norwich for the second ever time. The last being in late 2018 (on another Monday!) when they sat meekly at the bottom of the bill, below Shame and Sorry. Now they’re back headlining the LCR, a venue neither of the other two bands have ever played.
Toy opened the evening, with a charming, heady and slightly shoegazey pop. Occasionally veering into more unstoppable motorik beats. A bit Jesus and Mary Chain at times, and maybe even a bit like Teenage Fanclub, but with synth. The crowd remained relatively passive for Toy, only a bit of movement was sparsely scattered around. Though about halfway through their set the venue was getting packed out. Toy nonetheless still fitted comfortably before Fontaines, while less caustic than the latter, it worked well. Toy definitely didn’t sound too great, but after hearing Fontaines D.C. it seemed to be a problem with the venue – a problem that is definitely not an LCR one off. At times it was mushy, and vocal feedback and mixing was slightly off. Nonetheless, Toy’s beats and synths seemed to come through enough.
Swaggering onto the stage to Black Velvet Band by the Dubliners, Fontaines D.C. plugged in and limbered up, Grian already pacing. With wailing guitars to match the adoring shouts of a bloated LCR, and a gruff ‘alright?’ from Grian, Hurricane Laughter kicked in. The two guitars screeched and writhed as the bodies in the middle of the dancefloor began to move with greater and greater velocity. Grian moved anxiously around the stage, banging and swinging on the microphone stand.
Throughout the gig microphone feedback and a noticeable muddiness on some of the tracks meant that they weren’t able to hit their full potential. The crowd, apart from those down the front remained relatively still. Made up of the curious as well as quite a few diehard fans, a lot of the young as well as old – a typical leftfield guitar band Norwich crowd. While crowd interaction was limited, most Fontaines shows seem to be characterized by a coolness on the part of the band. The caustic distance of front man Grian and refusal of smalltalk meant that it was a set that cleanly flowed from start to finish.
They debuted two brand-new tracks, I Don’t Belong and Living In America – the latter the most impressive, a slow-building, heavier track (more Too Real than Boys in the Better Land), which swirled and sent waves of menacing noise across the room. One of the newer tracks, which had been played before (Lucid Dream), fed seamlessly into the triple threat of Too Real, Liberty Belle and Boys In The Better Land.
The penultimate song, Dublin City Sky was just as goosebump inducing as Roy’s Tune, creating an intimacy that to a degree seemed to be there to replace any potential connection that could’ve been created with on-stage chatter. At the end, Grian, speaking for the second time of the evening said ‘This is our last song, we don’t do encores.’ With a short drum only intro, they ripped into ‘Big’, finishing the evening with a bang.
Fontaines D.C. are a band that appear to want to let their songs speak for them, and fortunately, their songs are also very good. They tore through the setlist with a coolness, yet infused it with the anxious energy of unnerving guitars. While the night was at times let down by poor sound, Norwich definitely gave them a better welcome this time round; even if the LCR was a bit too packed.
Photo - Daniel Topete
Words - Callum Gray
