shame @ O2 Forum Kentish Town - November 30, 2018

After the Touts debacle, we got to the venue with plenty of time to get a drink and a position in front of the stage before the 1st opener's start at 7:45 p.m. We were some of the first to get there and it was nice to see the Kentish Town Forum with the lights up and not jammed with people. It's a beautiful old Art Deco cinema that now has a 2300 capacity.

Not wanting to miss out on a great band, I did my research ahead of the show and thoroughly checked out both Sorry and Fontaines D.C. I'm really impressed by the Fontaines D.C., a young sort of post-punk meets 50s surf band from Dublin City (thus the name). Their sound is fresh and infectious with a Irish literary and cultural influence in the lyrics. I was so looking forward to seeing them and was even more impressed with them after their compelling eight-song set.

They did a great job winning over the initially tame audience, having them whooping and clapping by the end and sounding like they would be happy for more. They didn't play my favourite track of theirs Winter in the Sun, but ran through just about everything else I'd heard and couple I hadn't and had to look up after the show. They only have 4 singles (all double a-sides if you ask me) released, but I read they have recently been signed to Partisan Records (Idles are their new label-mates) and hopefully we'll see their debut album soon rather than just an EP. For such a young band they seem plenty prolific, so fingers crossed.

Their look is very interesting if initially a tad bizare. Four-fifths of the band remind me of 70s rock fans looking out-of-date by the 80s with straggly hair, some dodgy beards and questionable thrift-store gems.  I think I remember a Velvet Underground tee. The singer, Grian Chatten, seems to be chanelling Ian Curtis with his sad eyes and frenetic energy; a throw back to a working class past where your da's hand-me-downs would have to do, and you're just going to have to pull off that dress shirt and corduroy pant look. He paced the stage repeatedly looking as though he were about to go ten rounds with the audience. Quite mesmerizing.

While the rest of the band had a bit of a dazed, or overly-chilled, look to them, the sound they produced was the opposite: tight and driving. Several of the early songs (like Big) began or were driven by Deegan's bass and then layered upon. You then can't help but hear the influence of the Beach Boys and other surf sounds (Link Wray) as well as Buddy Holly in the dual guitars and be thoroughly charmed. The cherry on top is the Irish accented voice of Chatten, echoey and atmospherically droning in the best post-punk sense. Fontaines D.C. have created an exciting, new sound out of some stellar and diverse influences.

After the show I bought an awesome band T-shirt of a grubby, little kid smoking a roll-up, and within a couple of days had bought tickets for their next available local show at the Garage in April.

Setlist:
Chequeless Reckless
Big
Sha Sha Sha
Too Real
The Lotts
Liberty Belle
Boys in the Better Land
Hurricane Laughter


shame review and setlist coming...