Here’s what went down at Fontaines D.C.’s intimate ‘Romance’ London show

23 August, 2024

Fontaines dc perform on stage in Rome. (Photo by Valeria Magri/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Fontaines D.C. played an intimate surprise gig in London last night (August 22) to launch their new album ‘Romance‘ – check out footage, the setlist and more below.

The Dublin band – comprised of Grian Chatten, Tom Coll, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan III and Carlos O’Connell – took over London’s iconic Electric Ballroom for a last minute show in celebration of the release of their fourth album.

They played to a sold-out crowd of 1500 at the Camden venue which saw the likes of Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Florence Welch and more in attendance.

To kick off the night, Coll, Deegan and Carlos made their way to the stage as lime green lights flashed while Curly – swapping his 6-string for a bass guitar – began the opening notes to ‘Romance’s haunting and eery title track.

Chatten walked on stage sporting a black t-shirt, black kilt, white knee-high socks, black combat boots and a pair of dark sunglasses which has become his uniform for the band’s current era. A massive Palestinian flag adorned the band’s keyboard setup, showing their ongoing support for the country amidst the ongoing war with Israel.

From there, Fontaines D.C. jumped into old favourites ‘Jackie Down The Line’, ‘Televised Mind’, ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘Big Shot’ before treating the crowd to a live performance of ‘Death Kink‘, the penultimate track of ‘Romance’.

The band performed a blend of tracks spanning their four albums including the recently released ‘In The Modern World‘, ‘Here’s The Thing‘ and ‘Favourite‘. To wrap up the night, Chatten and co delivered a powerful performance of ‘I Love You’ – during which Oppenheimer actor Murphy could be seen singing along head-banging with a pint of Guinness in hand  – before closing out with ‘Romance’s lead single ‘Starburster‘.

Fontaines D.C. Electric Ballroom setlist was:

‘Romance’
‘Jackie Down the Line’
‘Televised Mind’
‘Roman Holiday’
‘Big Shot’
‘Death Kink’
‘A Hero’s Death’
‘Here’s the Thing’
‘Big’
‘Nabokov’
‘A Lucid Dream’
‘Boys in the Better Land’
‘In the Modern World’
‘Favourite’
‘I Love You’
‘Starburster’

Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Romance’ was released today (August 23) marking their first LP under their new label home XL Recordings. In a glowing five-star review of the James Ford-produced album, NME shared: “‘Romance’ offers moments of wonder and gravity while also feeling occasionally foreboding.”

Speaking to NME as part of our In Conversation series, Chatten opened up about the creation of ‘Romance’ and described it as their “most expansive and full album” to date.

“To be creatively understood by too many people feels like flies settling all over your clothes and all other your face,” he told NME. “Every now and again you have to fucking shake them off, just to see who you are again. That’s what we wanted to do.

“We spoke a lot about visual references, films and stuff like that. I’m not even messing, but we used to speak about: ‘What kind of weather is it in this song?’ We could meet on a plain that didn’t have anything to do with music, arrangements or instruments. It’s more about abstractly getting to the right place. I think it’s more interesting to work in that way because you’re at less danger of sounding contrived or unoriginal.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Chatten went on to expand on the band’s new sound, and on comparisons to ‘KoRn’ and ‘cyberpunk’, which fits in with the band’s changing, more broodier aesthetic.

He added: “Some of the music is exaggerated in that sense. The colours that I hear in the music are not colours that you’d find in nature. The songs sound neon and ridiculous. In order to communicate that idea thoroughly, I didn’t want to go out on stage dressed the same as I was for ‘Dogrel’ or whatever. I wanted to put the audience in the right mindset to render them sensitive to the message we were trying to convey.”

In other news, Fontaines D.C. are set to perform on the main stage at this year’s edition of Reading & Leeds this weekend.

Their performance at the twin festivals will be followed by their 2024 UK and Ireland headline tour, which is set to take place in November and December. That stint includes two nights at Alexandra Palace in the capital.

The group also recently unveiled news of a huge outdoor show at London’s Finsbury Park, due to take place on Saturday July 5, 2025. It will mark the Irish band’s biggest headline performance to date, with support coming from Amyl And The Sniffers and Kneecap.

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