Ani DiFranco New LP

  Pink Floyd’s Animals Remix

  SHIT FLOATS

  Seasick Steve Alive & Kickin’

  Joe Bonamassa Live LP & Tour

  Pearl Jam New LP & Tour

  Feeder New LP & Tour

  “My country, right or wrong…”

  Heart Announce Live Tours

  Anais Mitchell HADESTOWN Returns

  The Photographer’s Selection

  My Favourite Records

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  Gaza Nightmare Continues

  The Killers New LP & Tour

  Download 2024 First Acts

  Princess Goes COME OF AGE

  Springsteen 2024 Tour

  Philip ‘Seth’ Campbell Live

  This Troubled World

  Dark Side Of The Moon 50th

  The More I Hear The Less I Know

  Glen Hansard New LP/Tour

  Great Albums: Fresh New Life

  Hozier’s New Album

  Nicole Atkins Jim Sclavunos Live

  SBT (Sarabeth Tucek) Live

  I’m As Angry As Hell!

  Magnum - A Year in Ukraine

  Alessandra Sanguinetti Interview

  The Damn Truth Live

  Newton Faulkner Live

  The Handsome Family Live

  The State We’re In Pt II

  Eric Gales Live

  The Cavalry Never Arrived

  Chvrches Live

  Andrés Peña Flamenco Star Live

  Paul Draper Live

  A Fly-Free Zone

  Liverpool Jazz Festival

  The Charlatans Live

  UK Democracy Threatened

  Rag’n'Bone Man Live

  Sea Girls Live

  Martha Wainwright Live

  Politics is Failing

  Moby The Very Best Of Interview

  Lucy Kruger TRANSIT TAPES

  Joe Bonamassa Live!

  Rodrigo Y Gabriela Interview

  Amy Macdonald Rescheduled Gig

  Music & Brexit

  Happy New Year?

  On Barbra Streisand

  The State We’re In…

  Welcome Back! But To What?

  What Have We Done?

  A RISK TOO FAR

  Photojournalism Hero

  Samantha Fish Live

  Gill Landry Live in Chester

  Noah Gundersen Live

  David Gilmour’s Interview

  Snow Patrol Live in Manchester

  New Model Army Live

  Shakespears Sister Live

  Lamb Live in Manchester

  The Struts Live

  Sting & Shaggy Live

  Ana Popovic, Lynne Jackaman Live

  David Gray Live in Liverpool

  The Slow Readers Club Live

  Karine Polwart Trio Live

  Benjamin Folke Thomas Live

  Chilly Gonzales Live

  Gomez Live in Manchester

  John Lennon Interview

  Ray LaMontagne Live

  Satriani’s G3 Live

  Jim White Live in Manchester

  Tori Amos Live

  Bush & RavenEye Live

  Laura Marling Live

  Jimmy Eat World Live

  Roger Waters on Amused To Death


Fontaines D.C. Live

f13

Gorilla, Manchester, 13 April 2019

Band Members

Grian Chatten (Vocals)
Conor Deegan III (Bass)
Carlos O’Connell (Guitar)
Conor Curley (Guitar)
Tom Coll (Drums)

f32

Having recently heard the band’s new album I was looking forward to witnessing a live performance. Manchester’s Gorilla venue is of a smaller scale but one of Manchester’s most popular venues often hosting great acts. But something worried me. I had previously attended an Idles show but was forced to retreat owing to out-of-control and drunk fans causing mayhem at the front of the stage (with no protective pit). Myself and others were forced up against the stage due to unruly moshers. Security staff took no action and I had great difficulty in leaving.

f25

Fontaines offer a similar style of music to Idles and I feared similar fan behaviour and threat to those (like me) who were directly in front of the stage. Even before the band’s performance started the unruly antics began but this time with no security staff in sight and, as previously, no protective stage pit. As Chatten prowled the stage like a caged animal the jumping and pushing increased and was so bad that taking photographs was almost impossible, and I was being squeezed up against the stage with drink being thrown (I was not sure whether this was from the stage or from behind me). I was forced to leave before the first song finished and managed to get to the side of the stage where I did take some images with great difficulty.

The combination of drink throwing, no pit, no security staff and a belligerent band front man proved an impossible and dangerous combination, and I eventually left (with great difficulty). It should not have been like this. I have been reviewing and photographing shows for over 20 years and on just 2 occasions have I been forced to leave - both times at the Gorilla in the last 12 months.

f42

My brief view of the band was enough to confirm the band’s musical capabilities and live performance verve, but there’s not much I can add to a bad experience which probably worsened after I left. Both the band and the venue need to ponder on their attitude to fan safety and viewing pleasure. This was as bad as it gets. However, the band’s new album will take a lot of beating in 2019 by other punk rockers.

Biography

Fontaines D.C. (previously Fontaines) is a Dublin based post-punk band comprised of Grian Chatten (Vocals), Conor Deegan III (Bass), Carlos O’Connell (Guitar), Conor Curley (Guitar), and Tom Coll (Drums). The band have released eight singles and, in 2018, signed with Partisan Records.

The band members met in college in Dublin, after having played individually in other bands, where they quickly formed a connection. “We loved the same poets and artists. Immediately our group and our band was everything to us.” Though the members all come from various cities, they have planted themselves as a Dublin band. “We’ve become inextricably attached to Dublin for all its foibles and brilliance. I can’t write about life on Mars when I’m so invested in life here. It’s all reflection.”

Fontaines D.C. released their debut single, “Liberty Belle” with Daniel Doherty in Darklands Studio and through their own independent Trigger Party Records in June of 2017. They continued the relationship with “Hurricane Laughter” and “Winter In The Sun”. On May 24, 2018, the band signed with Partisan Records, who have also signed with bands such as Idles, Cigarettes After Sex, and Eagulls. Both “Hurricane Laughter/Winter In The Sun” and “Boys In The Better Land/Chequeless Reckless” were named Singles of the Week by Rough Trade.

http://fontainesband.com/

Setlist

Hurricane Laughter
Sha Sha Sha
Chequeless Reckless
The Lotts
Television Screens
Roy’s Tune
Liberty Belle
Too Real
Boys in the Better Land
Dublin City Sky
Big

http://fontainesband.com/

Page: 1 2


Back


Manchester 2009 - Gallery: Rise Against
Rise Against
LATEST GALLERY IMAGES

Live - Gallery: Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison A Tribute to Journalists & The Innocents - Gallery: Ukraine Remembered
Ukraine Remembered
Shakenstir - Homepage Links Reviews Live Interviews Features News Contact Gallery Shakenstir - Homepage