The thing about buzz bands, right, is they’re often a bit overhyped. I’m not saying that to be mean, I promise. It’s just that bands are a lot like most other things in life: there are good ones and bad ones, but the outstanding ones - the ones that really, really stand out from the pack - are few and far between.
For that reason alone, I tend to approach ‘have to be there’ type shows like Fontaines DC’s Liberties homecoming at Vicar Street over the weekend with a light dose of cynicism. Occasionally, these buzz bands are absolutely wonderful. See The Cast Of Cheers pretty much throughout their short-lived career, and Villagers when Conor O'Brien first burst onto the scene after The Immediate. More often, they’re a bit of a disappointment.
Prior to Fontaines' outing on the fringes of their spiritual home (The Liberties is the subject of several of their songs, like ‘Liberty Belle’ and ‘The Lotts’), then, I had high hopes. In fact, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t genuinely excited, but it was an excitement tempered with some bitter experience.
For once, no cynicism was required. I have a new-ish theory, that with certain kind of music - I’m talking the less subtle, slightly brash stuff - you can tell if it’s any good live within about two minutes.
My reasons are simple: rock in particular doesn’t work without a charismatic frontman. And in Grian Chatten, Fontaines DC have the best Irish frontman I’ve seen in years (for what it’s worth, Girl Band’s Dara Kiely, who was in the same venue only a couple of weeks back, is a pretty serious contender, too).
Chatten fills the stage, strutting about the place with the kind of pent-up energy that gives his gnarled, bitter lyrics a convincing bite. So much so, that it’s only about a minute into opener ‘Hurricane Laughter’ before half the place is bouncing, Chatten has his arms raised over the crowd, and we know full well it’s going to be a good night.
‘Sha Sha Sha’ and ‘Chequeless Reckless’ - which both belong on any representative playlist of 2019 rock - follow swiftly in an opening assault on what is fast becoming a sweatbox.
Despite the early burst, the show turns out to be a bit of a slow builder. Fontaines DC are at the stage where they have six or eight really top-class songs (not bad at all for one album, the excellent ‘Dogrel’), and a few more that are solid, if a bit noodly and unspectacular.
What’s noodly on record, though, comes to life in an intense wall-of-sound capacity live, making for a 10 or 15 minute block that’s very much focused on heavy guitar.
Fontaines are their best when they fuse anger with melody, though, especially in an absolutely belting, manically paced closing barrage. The set lasts just an hour, but it’s a sparkling hour, closed off with ‘Too Real’ and ‘Big’ bracketing ‘Liberty Belle’ (“I love that violence that you get around here...”) and a snarling ‘Boys In The Better Land’.
The only break comes in the emotionally heaving ‘Dublin City Sky’, which sees Chatten’s Dublin accent accentuated as he drops the pace, taking on an almost toned-down Dropkick Murphys feel as he plays with the boundaries of trad.
There’s so much potential here. The set is already segmented into distinct, mood-altering phases. There’s very little that isn’t immediately engaging, and the energy in the room - helped, no doubt, by the celebratory, homecoming atmosphere - is utterly intense. The hottest ticket in town, for once, really was something well worth waiting for.
All comments, for those who like to know these things, in reference to the first night, Saturday. I hear they were excellent on Sunday, too.
Fontaines DC are back in Dublin next summer, playing the far bigger Iveagh Gardens. That’s already sold out, too. To quote the boys themselves, their childhood was small, but they’re going to be BIG.
