Fontaines D.C. Make Us Yearn for Basement Shows With ‘A Hero’s Death’ Performance
If you’ve been missing the claustrophobic, smoky vibe of DIY shows, Fontaines D.C.’s performance on The Tonight Show Thursday was tailormade for you.
Singer Grian Chatten wanders through a maze-like set reminiscent of a smoky club as the rest of the band appears in nooks and hallways, grinding out “A Hero’s Death” from their 2020 album by the same name. The glimpses of shadowy figures moshing will give any frequent showgoer — stuck home due to Covid-19 — a pang.
The life-affirming lyrics don’t hurt: “Life ain’t always empty,” “Tell your mother that you love her/Go out of your way for others,” and “If you find yourself in a family way/Give the kid more than what you had in your day.” It’s like if Mark E. Smith got up on the right side of the bed for once.
The Irish postpunk band dropped their second LP in July, scoring three and a half stars from IndieLand‘s Kory Grow: “Fontaines D.C., a rare punkish art-rock group that cites James Joyce and The Godfather as equal inspirations, sprung out of Ireland last year with a smart, upbeat set of songs on their debut, Dogrel.”
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The band also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album, along with Michael Kiwanuka, Grace Potter, Sturgill Simpson, and the Strokes.
