Guinness's favourite big shots perform underneath the waking of the Dublin city sky.

Fontaines D.C. returned to the place that kicked off their music career with a show in the Guinness Storehouse to celebrate its 25th anniversary. I was lucky enough to be one of the 7,000 Fontaines-devotees who saw the band play not too far from the place it all began during their BIMM days. Now with over five million monthly listeners and concerts selling out in massive arenas worldwide, the Dublin band has come far from their Workman's gigs so I am sure you can imagine the utter glee I felt, akin to a seagull in Stephen’s Green after robbing a chicken roll, when I saw that I got a ticket.

On the beautifully sunny 25th of May, Fontaines D.C. were supported by Lankum, a band of astounding Irish contemporary folk music with an aim of political awareness that is timeless in the music industry. They started chants of ‘Free Palestine’ and urged the audience to show support, particularly in reference to the generational trauma of Ireland that strikes a chord in what is going on today. The crowd roared in support, an image that filled my heart with hope in comparison to what is seen, or more so what is not seen, in venues triple the size of the Storehouse. Lankum’s performance of songs such as ‘Go Dig My Grave’ and ‘The Wild Rover’ were nothing short of beautiful in a chilling sort of way. Their ability to captivate the crowd with an eloquent and heartfelt performance left its lingering presence on the venue that I can still feel as I write this.

Not long after Lankum, the slow intro to ‘Romance’ creeped onto the stage and the Fontaines' set began. Grian Chatten reeled us in when he ran to the front of the stage as I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was there, a feeling that conspicuously ran through the smiling crowd in a place so close to our hearts with the shared community.

From ‘Dogrel’ to the first Irish performance of one of their latest singles, ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young,’ to say the atmosphere was electric would be an understatement. Though I was momentarily sickened at the lack of ‘Liberty Belle,’ being minutes away from the pub, I’m sure the band is very, very tired of having that same old boring conversation. The escalation of the quick and vibrant start to ‘Starburster’ to the newer, almost still verse at the end was certainly mesmerising as the sky got darker and the stage lights more visible. It was when ‘I Love You’ was on that I lost my voice completely, and completely in awe of how Grian does it. No feeling is comparable to that of a fan losing their voice to the voice we have blasting through our earphones every second we can. 

Who better than Fontaines D.C. to celebrate 25 years of the Guinness Storehouse as a tourist attraction at the St James’s Gate Brewery? From Friday the 23rd to Sunday the 25th of May, ‘Lovely Days Live’ held three days of live music and culture with artists such as CMAT and DJ Barry Can’t Swim alongside Fontaines. The ticket proceeds went towards the Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund to fundraise €1 million over the next five years for the local community.

Though the band’s ‘childhood was small,’ they certainly fulfilled their dreams of being big. Luckily for us, it doesn’t mean they have forgotten where it began. They shared the love for an Irish hallmark that is so much more than splitting the G, that through St James’s Gate is the place you will find the boys in the better land.

Written by Ruby Dolan.