Post-punk band Fontaines D.C. have just begun the first leg of their UK & Ireland tour, kicking off in Wolverhampton! The quintet have skyrocketed to fame in just the span of a few albums, their latest release Romance featuring some of their best songs to date. Hailing from Dublin, the group played their part to revive the Irish punk scene with tracks taking inspiration from greats such as Joy Division, The Fall and The Cure.
Romance is a shift in sound and image for the boys, swapping their darker colours and leather jackets from Skinty Fia (2022) for some neon threads and even brighter hair. Sonically the album features some more shoegazey sounds and even brings some alt-rock with no shortage of bold beats and catchy hooks.
Controversies of Fontaines DC UK & Ireland tour
While I personally loved Romance, my opinion of the group I have loved for a few years now had soured slightly when I saw their newest tour locations and ticket prices. The Fonaintes D.C. “UK & Ireland tour”, featuring eight UK locations and a single Irish venue! Further, while the tour does make sure to include Scottish and Welsh venues, it sticks exclusively to large arenas, bumping the ticket prices up to over £50 as a result.
While it must be taken into account the band have a much larger fan base than they had in previous albums, their tour locations do not give much hints that this is an Irish band. I wouldn’t have as much of an issue with this if not for the fact many recurring themes within the bands music are around the Dublin landscape, the life of the average blue-collar Dublin worker and generally drawing upon Irish culture as a way of marketing their brand to an overseas audience, but yet they give back nothing in return.
In an interview with British GQ some members voiced their concerns about Ireland’s housing crisis, where Dublin is the epicentre. The group advocates for adequate and affordable housing and the introduction of rent control, while these issues are very much real and do need to be addressed, it feels hypocritical coming from a band like Fontaines. The band are managed by Press Up Entertainment Group, one of the biggest proponents of the gentrification of Dublin that bought over 40 venues across Dublin. The agency is known to contribute to the very housing crisis Fontaines claims to oppose, buying and knocking down properties to replace them with over priced bars and restaurants that cater to the city’s tourist population.
Overall, it is a shame that a group with such great anthems for the Irish youth seems to not give back to them. It seems to reiterate the age old tale of leaving Ireland behind for a better life abroad and not looking back, in the years to come it would be amazing to see the group prioritise the place that becomes their muse for many of their songs.
You can listen to Romance here: