FONTAINES D.C // THE GLOBE, STOCKTON-ON-TEES
Fontaines DC prove ‘Life Ain’t Always Empty’ on the Skinty Fia Tour in Stockton-on-Tees.
★★★★★ (5/5)
FONTAINES DC - THE GLOBE, STOCKTON-ON-TEES
PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST
Fontaines DC are a very special band, the Dublin-formed five-piece have moved up the rock ladder since their explosion on to the scene with debut album ‘Dogrel’ in 2019, even the pandemic hasn’t slowed down their rise and rise, and they now celebrate that tricky third album ‘Skinty Fia’, with a sold out UK concert hall tour.
I find myself back at my new favourite venue The Stockton Globe an art deco styled refurbed concert hall, in a Teesside town that needs some serious refurbing, but there is a strong passion for live music here, more so than neighbouring Middlesbrough. Inside, the venue is perfect, a sloping floor to the stage and these huge art deco cup cake designs at the side that are actually making me feel a little hungry, might stop for a Parmo later.
First up though are Wunderhorse who do a superb job in opening with minimal lighting and emotive screams from guitarist and singer Jacob Slater, this feels a lot like Radiohead circa 1992. There is a raw guitar edge and some wailing vocals, plenty of musical shade and the occasional light burst, but with an atmosphere building throughout and up to the finale, which then fades into white noise as they walk off the stage. Definitely did the job, and now I’ve got their debut album ‘Cub’ on repeat in the car. One for the future to see again and again.
Last time I saw Fontaines DC was at Leeds Beckett Uni, there, frontman Grian Chatten spent most of his time hunched over the mic stand and drawling Mark E Smith (The Fall) style, little interaction throughout. Four years later and Fontaines DC took to the stage carrying pints of Guinness and Chatten is straight over to the front of the stage thrusting his arms in the air, screaming “C’mon” and looking for a reaction – which he gets back x10. The volume goes up even more when ‘A Hero’s Death’ starts and Chatten starts pacing around the floor like a wounded animal, singing “Life Ain’t Always Empty” over and over again. The perfect opening song, I love the lyric “Never let a clock tell you what you got time for, It only goes around, goes around, goes around” and with that he’s still circling the mic stand before jumping on the monitors for more riling of the crowd. They are already at a fever pitch and then ‘Sha Sha Sha’ gets those fists pumping even more.
Chatten has clearly decided that the shoe gaze era is over and he has carefully constructed a more rock n roll frontman persona that means all eyes are on him, his potential volatility makes the whole scene unmissable, and with hardly any movement from the rest of the band, they are acting too cool for school, it really is the only show in town.
There’s some movement in the crowd throughout, plenty of shout-a-thons but surprisingly less surfing here than other venues on the tour, with ‘Chequeless Reckless’, ‘Jackie Down The Line’ and ‘Televised Mind’, there is no shortage of opportunity to express that devotion to the band, and surely the next set of venues for them will be arenas.
Three songs in the encore literally starting ‘Big’, and then even bigger and better with the song that started it all ‘Boys In The Better Land’ delivered with a ferocity and class above no other. Fontaines DC will be huge, I can see future festival headliners here if the current trajectory is maintained.
Finally we get a burst of confetti during ‘I Love You’ which stuck to the sweaty faces creating red papier mache masks of delerium. This was a show not to be forgotten in a hurry, in five to ten years time we will be saying “Remember when Fontaines DC played Stockton-On-Tees Globe Theatre” the night they headline Leeds Festival. Catch them now – “Life Ain’t Always Empty”.
REVIEW + PHOTOS BY:
JOHN HAYHURST
SETLIST:
THE GLOBE, STOCKTON-ON-TEES
A HERO’S DEATH
SHA SHA SHA
HURRICANE LAUGHTER
SKINTY FIA
I DON’T BELONG
BIG SHOT
TELEVISED MIND
NABOKOV
TOO REAL
HOW COLD LOVE IS
A LUCID DREAM
ROY’S TUNE
ROMAN HOLIDAY
CHEQUELESS RECKLESS
JACKIE DOWN THE LINE
ENCORE:
BIG
BOYS IN THE BETTER LAND
I LOVE YOU