Fontaines D.C. @ U Street Music Hall [DC]- 9/11/2019
Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. at U Street Music Hall (Photo by Mauricio Castro)
Fontaines D.C. have drawn considerable buzz in the last year, through midnight mosh pits at SXSW, massive draws at Glastonbury, and now to a sold-out U Street Music Hall on their first headlining tour across North America. Their debut album Dogrel is an exciting collection of songs from a band that turns disillusionment into rage and action, and frontman Grian Chatten is a large part of the reason why.
On stage, Chatten is a ticking time bomb. It shows in how he steps onto the stage for the first time, picks up the microphone stand, and smashes it into the ground. It shows in how he nervously paces back and forth on stage. And the explosive band gives him the fuel to channel the anger, which reached blistering heights on "Hurricane Laughter" and "Too Real." Their set may have only clocked in at around 40 minutes, but Chatten's quiet rage throughout the performance left fans more than satisfied.
Dogrel is out now through Partisan Records.
Opening for Fontaines D.C. were Montreal-based band Pottery. They meld the sounds of post-punk and psych-rock into something with lots of rhythm and energy encased in such a compact space on stage. Their album No. 1 is out now through Partisan Records.
