Fontaines D.C. Live: Black People's Love of the Irish... Killer Openers... Mosh Pits & Crowd Surfs... The Only One
If there's one thing I love it's the Irish so it's no surprise how insane this show was for me.
Black People's Love of the Irish
There’s a running joke between Black people about the kinship between us and the Irish. It’s this idea that of all white people it’s the Irish that we have the most in common with. I theorize its origins could possibly lie in the anti-Irish discrimination laws in 19th century America but in reality it could be simply because of how badass the Irish are.
It was in college while studying literature that I started to become fascinated with the correlation between art and Irish patriotism. Works by Yeats, Seamus Heaney, and Oscar Wilde filled my bookshelf. Anytime I’d have to write a paper I’d always try to somehow tie it into my knowledge of the Troubles, even if the paper was for a course on Deaf culture. After graduating college and discovering Fontaines D.C. something in my brain clicked and took me back to that same obsession with Irish literature.
In many of their songs I heard them speak about the politics of Ireland in a way that I hadn’t heard before. I’ve always seen music, especially lyrics as a form of literature but with Fontaines D.C. I looked at many of their lyrics the same way I'd look at a poem by Yeats so much so that I’d copy and paste the lyrics onto a Google doc and analyze them line by line. One song specifically that I still think is one of their best is “I Love You” from their third album Skinty Fia. In the song the band describes this love-hate relationship many have with their home country. With lyrics like “Selling genocide and half-cute pride, I understand” and “And they say they love their land, but they don’t feel it go to waste” I saw my own, and many Black people in America’s complicated relationship with with the country they were forced to reside in. It’s this weird relationship in which on one hand you’re supposed to feel lucky and privileged to be living in a country in where you’re given so much opportunity but on the other hand it’s a country that has and still continues to have a bloody history with how Black people in this country are treated. It’s this correlation between the struggle of the Irish in Ireland and Black people in America that I became heavily interested in finally seeing them live.
Killer Openers
Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Dua Lipa, ONE DIRECTION. All of these artists started off their careers as openers. The opening act not only sets the stage for the evening but for the artist it’s oftentimes a first introduction to an audience that aren’t familiar with them. In my opinion it’s the latter that’s more important as it’s the opening artist’s first opportunity to gain a room full of new fans. Everything they do during that set is pivotal. To put it bluntly most people didn’t purchase their concert ticket solely because of who the opener was. From the moment the opener steps onto the stage they have to put in the work to get the audience on their side. It’s complicated. You want to play enough songs so the audience gets an idea of who you are but you don’t want to go so long that your audience is looking at their phone to check the time. Every concert I go to I make it a mission to make sure I don’t miss the opener as I’m always open to find new music. And one opener I’ve seen in the past who performed one of the best opening sets I’ve ever seen is the Australian indie rock band Girl and Girl.
At the time Girl and Girl were opening for the band Royel Otis during their PRATTS & PAIN tour and like the case for a lot of openers I’ve seen in the past I wasn’t really familiar with their music. But it was only one song into their set that I became captivated. Being able to grab the attention from everyone in a room in just one song, as an opener no less, is something I’ve never seen in any concert I’ve been to in the past couple years. What their success did as as openers was set up Royel Otis expertly as once it was their time to come out the audience was hyped and ready to listen to even more great music.
The alternative though is you have an opener who don’t successfully set you up. You have an audience who by the time you get on stage are excited to see you but just saw a set that didn’t really thrill them. And unfortunately that was my experience at the Fontaines D.C. show in Los Angeles. Similarly to Girl and Girl I wasn’t super familiar with their opener Been Stellar but was excited to see them nonetheless.
For me the best opening set is one that perfectly captures who you are as an artist. It’s not necessarily choosing your best and most popular songs but choosing songs that’ll stick in the audience's mind. The songs that make the audience go “Wow, I like this one. I need more.” With Been Stellar though it felt like the songs chosen didn’t let me know who they were as a band. One of the only things that I did know about them was that the band was from New York but two members were from LA. After their set I was left more confused than when they started. The simple question of “WHO is this band?” was still lingering in my mind after they stepped foot off the stage.
This isn’t to say at all that Been Stellar are unsuccessful artists. Having formed in 2017 and releasing their debut album just earlier this year I’d still consider them a new band. And new bands learn from their mistakes. Since the concert I’ve been listening to songs from their debut album and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their music. I genuinely wish the best for Been Stellar and see really bright things in their future.
Mosh Pits & Crowd Surfs
With the opening set finished and Fontaines D.C. set to go on soon I grew anxious. I really had no clue what to expect as this was not only my first time seeing the band but previously all of the concerts I’ve been to in the past were pop or indie shows. While I strongly believe indie and pop shows are energetic they really aren’t comparable to the atmosphere of a post-punk show. It was during the beginning of the band's second song in their set that I was able to see for myself how different this show was going to be.
As I was grooving in my spot I felt what could only be described as an energy shift and as I turned I was faced with a dozen or so white guys running straight towards me. Startled, I stepped aside and they made their way to the center where for the rest of the show they stayed. As they were there more and more people joined and soon what started as a dozen or so young guys consisted of a bunch of people of different ages and gender identities all dancing together. Those people in the middle danced as one as girls and boys were picked up and crowd surfed before being dropped to the ground. That type of energy was one thing that made this show so different than any other concert I’ve been to in the past.
Before the show had even started the energy was vibrating in the air like mosquitos in the summer. It was Fontaines D.C.’s job though to not only capture that energy but cultivate it in such a way that it grows into this thing that’s so intoxicating, so infectious, that people are moving and feeling before their brains can even comprehend what’s going on. For me as a newbie to all of this that’s the point of moshing and crowd surfing. It’s allowing your body to fully take over. It’s one of the few times that you don’t really have to think and instead could just feel. Throughout the night that’s exactly what I was experiencing. Feeling these songs from one of my favorite albums released this year by one of my favorite bands and tethered emotionally to every single person in that audience. What they felt I felt. When the crowd surged left I went left. When it surged right I went right. Together we were all one.
The Only One
It was before the show had started that I remember looking around and realizing that I couldn’t find another Black person in the audience. After the show had ended I remember looking around once more and still not being able to find anyone. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing though nor does it say anything about the band or the fans as I had nothing but positive interactions with the fans I spoke to before and after the show. But I do think it's interesting to ask why? Why weren’t there any other Black people in the audience? It’s LA so it’s not like Black people don’t live here. Does this say something about how Black fans are treated at punk shows in general? While I had a positive interaction seeing this band I’ve read online about how many Black punk fans have had negative experiences going to shows. One of the big questions I always try to answer when I hear about this is whose job is it that this doesn’t happen? Is it the artist's job to create a safe space in which Black fans are treated fairly or is it the fans themselves who should make sure that everyone around them is treated equally. In my opinion it’s a happy medium. While I do think it’s the artist’s job to make sure that all of their fans are treated fairly there’s also only so much they could actually do. It’s the fans who are down in the audience, moshing and belting together, that should look out for one another and call out those they witness who may be treating others unjustly. At the end of the day we all share one common love and that’s the love of the music we’re all experiencing together.
I absolutely loved seeing Fontaines D.C. live and when they come back to LA I’ll definitely pay to see them again. They brought this punk energy that I wasn’t at all familiar with previously but like COVID (4x for me) I caught. With my love for the band and genre being a relatively new phenomenon I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m excited for more shows and excited to meet other fans that look like me. Until next time.
Dev
