REVIEW: A Magical Night with Fontaines DC in Albany
5/13 @ Empire Live, Albany
Photos by Kiki Vassilakis
“the plinking synth shimmered over the speakers… and chatten’s captivating dublin accent followed like a long-awaited morphine drip.”
It felt like a long and uncertain lead up to Fontaines DC’s show at Empire Live. Tickets sold out incredibly fast and securing one for myself essentially hinged on a wing and a prayer. When news spread in March that the band had been forced to cancel a few tour dates due to vocalist Grian Chatten’s herniated disc, I started to lose confidence that I’d get the opportunity to see them at all.
Against all odds, the show did go on and my prayer for a ticket was eventually answered. I soon found myself in a packed venue standing perfectly stick-straight, picking other people’s hair out of my mouth, and accidentally elbowing those next to me in the rib. On two separate occasions I saw grown men bounced out before the opener, Jadu Heart, even took the stage.
Despite the easy brand of cool both acts possess, the energy of the crowd was tense and edgy with anticipation. A group of friends could be overheard nearby agonizing over whether they should go to the bathroom or chance getting another drink for fear of losing their place in the crowd. I remained planted despite a full bladder.
When Fontaines DC did slink their way onto the stage, drawing out the aching opening riff to “Romance”, the room erupted in applause. The plinking synth shimmered over the speakers next, and Chatten’s captivating Dublin accent—the DC stands for Dublin City after all—followed like a long-awaited morphine drip.
To the joy of many in the audience, the group played a slew of songs off their album Romance, released last summer. A few notable tracks included “Bug” and “Starburster” (for which every single phone in the house rose to record), the carefree and up-tempo “Favourite”, and brooding earworms “Death Kink” and “Here’s The Thing”. A couple of songs off 2022’s Skinty Fia made their way into the set as well, “Roman Holiday” and “Big Shot” among them. The stage lights flashed along like a high-speed car chase for the entirety of their set.
After about an hour, the group left the stage for a few brief moments and reappeared to play two more songs before ending the night. When it’s a band you love, it never feels like enough time. My thoughts turned to a friend I had in the crowd who had bought tickets on a total whim to see what all the fuss was about. She went into the concert cold, knowing nothing about either band and came out drenched in sweat, radiating joy at what she had seen. If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.
Jadu Heart had opened the night and when they ended their set I could hear others in the crowd asking one another: “Who are these guys? They’re fantastic,” pulling out phones and searching for a show flyer or opening streaming apps (most likely to save their name to have a listen later). Their euphoric and dreamy lo-fi sound was a perfect match for the bill and their latest release, POST HEAVEN, is a must for fans of Aphex Twin, Massive Attack or Radiohead. If I had all the time in the world, I’d follow this tour from city to city just to relive the magic.
