The Boys In The Better Land are back in Australia and they’re better than ever. Back in the country supporting their Romance album, Fontaines D.C lit up a sold out Sydney Opera House Forecourt, treating fans old and young to a career spanning set. Now four albums deep and touring their universally acclaimed most recent album, the Irish lords put their best foot forward in front of an at times rain-soaked Sydney crowd. But before they lit up the night, support act Shame did exactly the same thing.
Playing an electric 45 minute set, the English five-piece were frantic yet composed, delivering one of the best support slots I’ve send in a long time. Returning to the country for the first time since 2018, their set was electric from first song to last. Highlighted by the impeccable “Six Pack”, surprisingly deep and sad “Adderall” and fan favourite “One Rizla”, the band matched their musicianship with a generally erratic yet flawless stage presence. From multiple crowd surfs from frontman Charlie Steen and unexpected stage runs and flips from other members, Shame were everything I remember from their last tour, but better. Here’s hoping it’s not another seven years before they return.
By entering the stage just after 8pm, Fontaines D.C presented the Sydney crowd with two things: an early finish to the night (which is great on a work night), and a live show that has come along in leaps and bounds since their debut Australian shows little more than two years ago. Opening with “Romance”, they quickly moved into “Jackie Down The Line”, an underrated ripper from their third album Skinty Fia. With minimal stage talk throughout the entirety of their set, the band managed to go through 20 songs in little more than 90 minutes.
With no wasted seconds, the night had plenty of bang for the punter’s buck. One thing the band has added to their live set up, is their light show. You know a band has hit the big time when their set up extends beyond the standard backing lights and occasional strobe. Adding depth and atmosphere to an already intimidating band, Fontaines D.C have landed on something pretty special with their light set up, which will hopefully continue to evolve over the coming years and album cycles.
With all albums making an appearance throughout the set, naturally the night was weighted towards Romance, with exactly half the night being designated to the album. Progressing their sound to be more grandiose than ever before, highlights from Romance came in the form of “Bug” and “In The Modern World”, while naturally singles “Favourite” (main set closer) and “Starburster” (encore closer) got the crowd heaving and begging for more.
With a surprise inclusion from new single “It’s Amazing to Be Young”, my personal favourite “A Hero’s Death”, and “I Love You” all getting a run at some point throughout the middle stages of the night, the set peaked with their biggest and most well-known single “Boys in the Better Land”. Raucous from its opening notes, “Boys in the Better Land” is the song every band wishes they wrote. Acknowledging the genocide currently occurring in the Middle East, the band showed their support for Palestine with a flag on stage and the overwhelmingly well-received cries of ‘Free Palestine’ in the closing stages of the night.
With a set that had way more hits than misses (if there were any) the return of Fontaines D.C to our shores was everything it could have been and then some. We’ll happily welcome them back sooner rather than later.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Photo credit: Pete Dovgan – you can see more of Pete’s photos HERE
