Fontaines D.C. at Showbox SoDo

Fontaines D.C. lit up the Showbox SoDo with their unmatchable dynamic sound. The five-piece originating from Dublin, Ireland entranced eager show goers in a manner that revived any dwindling in our devotion to music.

Following the release of their third album Skinty Fia, (translating to the Irish swear, The Damnation of The Deer), we hear a slower paced jaded undertone compared to the more urgent and concise characteristics of their previous albums. Lead vocalist Grain Chatten lent sincere, cultivated, vocal variation with enunciations falling on drum beats solidly.

Their setlist that night, especially tracks from Skinty Fia, matched a similar essence of a familiar perpetual state of melancholy gloom we often experience in the Pacific Northwest for the majority of the year. Instrument melodies had a mind of their own but laced together perfectly.

Track after track the sound was big in an ingenious sense.  During their performance of “Too Real,” one of the guitarists used a beer bottle as a slide creating a whirring, race car engine embellishment to the strong sets of lyrics. Their music is littered with impeccable poetry that connects to Ireland’s volatile history and the remnants of those events that still boomerang throughout the culture.  (“Dublin in the rain is mine, a pregnant city with a Catholic mind,” Big; “Charisma is exquisite manipulation, and money is the sandpit of the soul,” Chequeless Reckless). The way some of the songs would build up just to break down into soul-stirring instrumental interludes, creating levels of drama, that gave me goosebumps.

I was moved, being a fly on the wall at a Fontaines D.C show. At times I was emotional witnessing the connection that was made between the band and their audience. Fontaines D.C is no frills. I have the upmost respect for musicians that show up with only their instruments and an idea. Make sure you see them the next time they’re on our side of the world.

Is it too real for ya?

Notable tracks: Roman Holiday, Televised Mind, Nobokov, A Lucid Dream, Too Real

Words: Allison Lynch

Photos: Joshua Simons