This past Friday night, Fontaines D.C. played their biggest show yet in Chicago, in honor of their new album Skinty Fia.

The evening kicked off with a support set from Just Mustard, who hail all the way from Dundalk, Ireland. While they were a long way from home, their name felt very fitting in Chicago, as we’re known for having just mustard on our Chicago-style hot dogs (shout out to Dan from Partisan Records for pointing this out in the box office line). The five-piece group, fronted by vocalist Katie Ball, had a similar sound to Fontaines D.C. and combined shoe-gaze with post-punk genres. Also like Fontaines D.C., Just Mustard is slated to have a new album out this year. The sophomore album called Heart Under will be out May 27th, and the band performed the single “I Am You” during their show, alongside some of their earlier material. Just Mustard’s songs had moody and emotive vibes to them, and the lighting during their set complemented those tones.

As the stage changed over for Fontaines D.C., a huge backdrop with the band’s name hung from the back of the stage and more and more fans buzzing with excitement packed into The Vic Theatre. I first saw Fontaines D.C. at SXSW Festival in 2019 and I remember them being my favorite new band during the fest, so I was eager to see them again now that they’ve got three albums under their belt— including their debut Dogrel and 2020’s A Hero’s Death. As the band burst out onto the stage, vocalist Grian Chatten came out swinging with a sense of urgent torment— he briskly paced the stage, slammed the microphone stand against the stage floor and frantically gestured for the crowd to put their hands up. The set began with some familiar favorites from their first two albums, like “A Lucid Dream” and “Hurricane Laughter” before mixing in some of the new material from Skinty Fia, like their single “Roman Holiday” and the record’s title track. While the new tour was definitely celebrating the latest album, the last time Fontaines was in Chicago had been the fall of 2019, so they made sure to also highlight some of the songs from their 2020 album that they never got to tour here.

As the set continued on, Chatten never lost his sense of urgency and intensity— at some points he slapped his own face, riled up the crowd and even stepped onto the barricade from the stage. The room was already filled with adrenaline but the band’s explosive stage presence made their show even more of a spectacle.
The first part of the set finished with “A Hero’s Death” and then the band left the stage to applause and immediate pleas for an encore. The break between the main set and encore seemed to take several minutes, but when Fontaines D.C. retuned, they were accompanied by several choir singers to perform “In ár gCroíthe go deo” with layered backing vocals. The encore then wrapped up with “Boys in the Better Land” and the single “Jackie Down The Line” from the new album. The song made for the perfect end to the night because it has a vintage post-punk feel yet it showcases a more polished and developed sound from the group.

Check out photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch Fontaines D.C. next here.