Fontaines D.C.‘s fourth album, Romance, is a level up for the Dublin band, that’s helped bring in new audience. I know so many people who either didn’t know, or were indifferent to, Fontaines on their three previous albums who have now come on board in a major way thanks to the record’s bigger hooks, bigger production, and just being a terrific, undeniable batch of bangers and earworms. The uptick in awareness was even more evident on Wednesday night at their second of two sold-out shows at the recently-renovated, 2700-capacity Brooklyn Paramount. The crowd was full of longtime fans (and lots of NYC’s large Irish expat population) but clearly lots of new ones too, and the sense of excitement about the new album could be felt.
The band were gonna make you wait to hear the new stuff, though. After opening with Romance‘s moody, mellow title track, Fontaines ran through 30+ minute set of songs almost entirely from their first three albums, including “Jackie Down the Line,” “Televised Mind,” “Big Shot” (which they stopped and restarted after checking on a fan in the pit), “Big,” “A Hero’s Death,” and more. The band’s energy matched the crowd’s and never let up, but you could tell everyone was waiting to hear the new stuff. They did drop in “Death Kink” in the middle of that run but it was when they launched into “Here’s the Thing” halfway into their main set that the place exploded, with the whole floor bouncing up and down in a way that hadn’t earlier.
We ended up getting most of Romance, including “Bug,” “Horseness Is the Whatness” (which made its live debut the night before), and “Favourite” which closed out the main set and had the whole place dancing and singing along. There was no shortage of singing along (and shouting along) the whole night, actually. Frontman Grian Chatten has never been much for stage banter — though he did lead the crowd in a “FREE FREE PALESTINE” call-and-response chant — but he was bounding around the stage the whole night, pumping everyone up. Not that they needed it.
On top of sounding as great as they did, they also looked impossibly cool. Multiple members wore their sunglasses at night without seeming corny about it at all, and their individualism was on display, from Conor Curley’s Britpoppy parka to Conor Deegan III’s overalls to Grian’s oversized “New York Fuckin’ City” tee. (Unfortunately, we only got a glimpse of Carlos O’Connell’s very ’90s-looking bleached braids. He seemed to be having some technical difficulties with his analog synth, and after giving up on it in disgust, he ended up throwing a towel over his head/face for the rest of the set.)
After what seemed like a longer than usual break — maybe something to do with those technical difficulties — the band returned to wild cheering for a three-song encore which began with Romance‘s sweeping ballad “In the Modern World” and Skinty Fia‘s “I Love You,” two of their more contemplative songs, before ripping the joint open with “Starburster” which seems to have gone instantly into night-closing status. There was nowhere else to go from there, capping a triumphant night for the band that had me wondering where Fontaines D.C. will play the next time they’re here.
Check out full video of Wednesday’s show, photos of Tuesday’s show by Dimitry Mak (including NYC’s Been Stellar who’ve been opening on the whole tour), plus setlists for both Brooklyn Paramount shows, below. We’ll have photos of Night 2 coming soon.
SETLIST: Fontaines D.C. @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/16/2024
Romance
Jackie Down the Line
Televised Mind
Roman Holiday
Big Shot
Roy’s Tune
Death Kink
Big
A Hero’s Death
Here’s the Thing
Bug
Horseness Is the Whatness
Nabokov
A Lucid Dream
Too Real
Boys in the Better Land
Favourite
Encore:
In the Modern World
I Love You
Starburster
SETLIST: Fontaines D.C. @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/15/2024
Romance
Jackie Down the Line
Televised Mind
A Lucid Dream
Roman Holiday
Big Shot
Death Kink
Sundowner
Big
A Hero’s Death
Here’s the Thing
Bug
Horseness Is the Whatness (Live Debut)
Nabokov
Boys in the Better Land
Favourite
Encore:
In the Modern World
I Love You
Starburster