All-Conquering Band - Fontaines DC

It feels like it’s been a fast rise to prominence for Fontaines DC as they have swaggered their way from cult to mainstream success in short order. It’s an impressive feat to have moved rapidly from the 2019 release of their debut album, Dogrel, to packing out an arena tour in 2024. In doing so, their style has drifted from gritty tales told with their distinct Irish lyricism to the more sweeping singalong anthems that are to the fore in Romance, their latest album, which I fully expect to be littering the best of lists of this year's albums.

There was a feverish level of anticipation in the Leeds First Direct Arena that I’ve not felt for a while. This was heightened as the band took the stage hidden behind a huge screen, behind which they kicked things off with the eponymous track of the new album, a sparse, taut affair and a brave opening track, before the screen dropped to roars, and Jackie Down The Line saw the crowd surging and bouncing along.

In line with their new status as an arena, the band has clearly had a stylist in. Last time I saw the band, Grian Chatten was in trackie bottoms and a ripped old Gun Club t-shirt. Now he’s in a swirling black kilt and wraparound shades, and the rest of the band has gone through similar transformations. Does this matter? No, but it clearly indicates the packaging and backing that is going into the band, and it does make me wonder where the additional expectation being put upon the band will take them musically and whether this will be a step too far away from what has made them so fresh.

The bulk of the set is made up of romance, and, apart from the riotous Boys in the Better Land, which launched the band on their path to fame, it’s those songs that the majority appear to want to hear with lusty singalongs accompanying Bug, Starburster, and Favourite in particular.

Personally, it was great to hear Roman Holiday and A Hero’s Death, which are two songs of theirs that I adore. Throughout the night, the band did not put a foot wrong and has clearly taken to this arena lark with consummate ease and their trademark swagger. Headlining Glastonbury will, I suspect, soon be on the horizon for this all-conquering band.