The players: Grian Chatten: vocals, guitar; Carlos O’Connell: guitar, keyboard; Conor Curley: guitar, backing vocals; Conor Deegan III: bass guitar, backing vocals; Tom Coll: drums.
Emerging through the glow of bright prismatic colors, the highly lauded dark art alt-rockers Fontaines D.C. surreptitiously graced the stage of Seattle’s Showbox SoDo. Their silhouettes stood in stark contrast to the luminous backdrop as the drone of a heavy bassline and a ghostly toy piano chime resonated through the sold-out, standing-room-only crowd.
The distinct intro to “Romance”—the title track from the band’s most recent release—soon gave way to an equally aberrant, down-tuned electro-driven wall of sound with lead singer Grian’s gothic-inspired, ethereal timbre carrying its morose melody. The complex sonic tapestry created a foreboding yet beautiful scene, setting the tone for the evening where the Irish phenoms’ mystic-meets-macabre musical intonations seamlessly intertwined alongside wistful lyrics filled with abstract storylines.
Without hesitation, Fontaines D.C. delved deeper into dark, poetic prose—tapping into day-to-day generational doom with the cunning, symbolic refrain in the somber “Jackie Down the Line” from Skinty Fia (2022) and the mesmerizing baritone vocal cadence in “Televised Mind” from A Hero’s Death (2020). The pair of sepulchral-stylized songs were brilliantly delivered, with the band’s sly engaging stage presence drawing their devoted fans closer toward the already packed front of the house—all in hopes of locking eyes with one of the five.
Fontaines D.C.’s performance shifted gears, continuing with a set of tracks from 2024’s Romance, including the dissonant chord progressions in “Death Kink” and sweeping atmospherics in “Sundowner.” The latter featured a change-up, with Conor Curley taking over lead vocals and Grian along with ‘Deego’ providing backing: the inverted switch made for a lovely, melancholic call and response between the three which was adored by the audience.
The sonic shapeshifters pressed on with a selection showcasing their storytelling virtuosity. The dramatic rhythms and taut, tense lyrics of “Big” and “Boys in the Better Land,” both from their distinguished debut Dogrel (2019), effortlessly transported listeners into Fontaines D.C’s world where words hit hard. In contrast, the brooding musicality in “Nabokov” from Skinty Fia (2022) and nostalgia-inducing “Favourite” from Romance explored more elegiac notions—where mood and emotion are the frontrunners, and lyrical connotation is open for implied interpretation.
While Fontaines D.C.’s fans yearned for the band to carry their outstanding, introspective set well beyond the venue’s allotted hour-plus time slot, the Dubliners—many members now by way of London—ultimately wound down with the hypnotically gorgeous “Desire” (Romance) and fascinating slow-burning “I Love You” (Skinty Fia). Both songs tugged at the crowd’s already attenuated heartstrings, stretching them to full extension, as Fontaines D.C. launched into the final song, the scintillating “Starburster.” The stellar lead single from Romance shocked the audience into a full-on euphoric trance, ensuring that concertgoers would leave with an emotional imprint of Fontaines D.C. carved in their (our) hearts forever: “In ár gCroíthe go deo.”
SETLIST:
Romance
Jackie Down the Line
Televised Mind
Roman Holiday
Big Shot
Death Kink
Sundowner
It's Amazing to Be Young
Big
A Hero's Death
Here's the Thing
Bug
Horseness Is the Whatness
Nabokov
Boys in the Better Land
Favourite
Encore:
In the Modern World
Desire
I Love You
Starburster
Photos by Megan Perry Moore
