Fontaines DC at MTELUS | Beyond (post-)punk to move on to posterity – Are you going out? – Media for cultural outings in Montreal and Quebec

The Irish group Fontaines DC was back in Montreal on Saturday evening, a year after opening for Arctic Monkeys at the Bell Centre, two and a half years after their own last headlining show (at Corona in May 2022) and just a few weeks after the release of their new album Romance. As if we needed proof, the band showed us once again why they deserve to be one of the biggest rock phenomena of the 2020s.

Of all the bands associated with the new British/European post-punk wave of the COVID decade — we think of IDLES, Shame, Black Midi, Black Country New Road, Squid, Dry Cleaning, Viagra Boys, Sleaford Mods, Yard Act among others — few have managed to make it to more than three albums by renewing their relevance without losing their essence. This is perhaps what will earn Fontaines DC the title of leader of this spectacular rock revival in the long term. Or even to transcend the post-punk 2.0 wave, like Radiohead who completely stood out from the Britpop movement of the 1990s to eclipse any comparison with the Oasis, Pulp and Blur of this world.

Romance has a lot to do with it. The album continues to tactfully explore their troubled vision of the world through the poetry of its singer Grian Chatten, but on more accessible music, where pop melodies are assumed, as are nu-metal touches and rap inflections. , with lush orchestrations and ingenious synths. If the first album, Dogrel“made you want to kick trash,” as a friend of a friend rightly pointed out when leaving the MTELUS, the group gradually nuanced its approach without becoming annoying, and Romance is the culmination.

It remained to be seen how this more refined approach would be transposed onto stage, and how the new songs would coexist with those from the three previous albums in the same setlist. The answer is unequivocal: the Fontaines DC show is more convincing than ever, more mature but without losing its bite. Besides, there is no question of presenting a slick production, with high-end projections or spectacular staging. Fontaines DC remains Fontaines DC, with a basic decor, a sustained rhythm from song to song, very few interventions between the titles, no sycophancy.

In fact, yes, maybe A sycophancy… The band had the brilliant idea of putting Montreal in their little pocket by highlighting their admiration for the poetry of local legend Leonard Cohen by playing his superb song Avalance as an introduction before arriving on stage. And not just an excerpt: the entire five-minute song!

Bassist Conor Deegan III then shows up on stage and plays the already familiar first notes of the first song from the new album, Romance. It starts out as a mystery, then it explodes, and then follows the excellent Jackie Down The Line. What an introduction!

Fontaines DC continues with a heterogeneous but relevant selection of songs from the four albums. Of Dogrelwe will only have the short but punchy Big and a wild version of Boys in the Better Land. Big Shotissue de Son of Skinty (2022), will also be reworked with more bite.

From the new album, we will be presented with eight, including the very good ones Bug et Death Kinkbut above all the very Smithesque Favouritededicated to Johnny Marr who will also be in town the next day, as Gratten points out. A welcome return from the group that the ex-guitarist of The Smiths has publicly showered with compliments on several occasions over the years.

After a good hour (14 songs in 60 minutes!), the encore clearly demonstrates that its success is not nostalgic by concluding with the ride In the Modern Worlda plea for finding comfort and reassurance in today’s world, then the two titles vying for the greatest number of plays on Spotify, the single I Love You from the album Son of Skinty, and the first single from Romancethe excellent Starburster. This song is becoming the band’s anthem, and no one will dare argue against it.

With all due respect to early fans, who adopted Dogrel upon its release in spring 2019 and who were gathered in front of the green stage at Osheaga early in the afternoon on Sunday that summer — and that’s not a criticism: we’re part of that category! — Fontaines DC has gone elsewhere, casts its net wider, and looks straight ahead since its rise has not yet plateaued and we are here to follow it.

Some could criticize the group for the short duration of the show, less than an hour and a half, but for a group that does not get stuck in the flowers and has no use for conventions, we must appreciate this performance of 17 big songs for what it is.

Would we have taken a little Sha Sha Sha ou Too Real for old times sake? Of course!

But for that, you had to be there when it happened. When the band’s music, straight forward, still made you want to kick trash cans, in the middle of the afternoon in Osheaga, in front of around fifty people.