Live Review: Fontaines D.C. - O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester 13/11/2022
If you have been lucky enough to see Fontaines DC, the five-piece, post-punk Dubliners at one of their headline gigs before, you know what to expect, but each time they exceed expectations without failure.
The night being the third and final of their residency at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, it was kicked off with an ethereal set from Wunderhorse, a carefully chosen support to guarantee the right energy for the entirety of the show. The punk taste with hints of classic rock guitar riffs, captivated the entire audience which is unusual for a support to do.
After an amazing few years for the Grammy award nominated lads, ‘Skinty Fia’ the latest release had to have a tour alongside.
From the word go to the intensity that Fontaines hold unravelled across the 3,500-capacity venue. Big, Sha Sha Sha and Television Screens as the perfect trifecta to stimulate the evening. Although the majority of the songs on the set are guitar shredding and fast paced, as the fifth tune ‘I don’t Belong’ commenced the angst looking, 20 somethings on shoulders screamed back the chorus ‘I don't wanna belong to anyone’ bringing this whole new emotion to the night.
The setlist felt very meticulously crafted, with the mosh-pit tempo’s together and the more hard-hitting sentimental anthems now and then to remind the audience that this band can seriously write some stunning lyrics.
Rarely outspoken lead vocalist, Grian Chatten has by now definitely possessed this perfected frontman character and vaunts this to a great degree. With little to no crowd interaction, he still manages to maintain this riled-up audience as he throws himself around the mic stand and plays the tambourine in a way you can hardly describe.
Halfway through the 90-minute set, easily identifiable guitar riffs from the intro of ‘A Lucid Dream’ began and before the 10 second mark pints were launched, the crowd opened up and you could see in that moment just how much the past few nights actually meant to the whole band.
This magnetic, model-like, produced quintet knows how to put on the ideal gig, and they do it in a way never really seen nowadays. With hints of Nirvana in the early days with the mannerisms of the Gallagher brothers, they just own it. With such a simple backdrop, no massive lights and not a lot of talking, they just allow the music and lyrics to do what they do best.
After a short break the 3-song encore finished with the ever so faultless ‘I Love You’, everything about Fontaines DC’s self-made identity is illustrated in this 5-minute track. As the drums kick in, the lyrics are chanted by everyone in the building, this ode to Ireland, the ones you love and a massive f**k you to the United Kingdom government and establishment, all put together in one song, in my opinion you couldn’t ask for a better ending.
If you ever get the chance to go to a Fontaines D.C. gig, just do it, no questions asked.
Words by Lucy Holden
Photography by Samantha Corcoran
