“What on Earth happened to make a crowd this manic?”
“What song even roped people into Fontaines D.C.? Or are they just this famous because they’re cool?”

In my circle of friends, all huddled in a corner of the gilded Brooklyn music venue, Kings Theatre struggling not to get body-checked by a current of concert goers, we all asked each other these questions. To explain what seemed like a sudden spike in popularity for a band, we acknowledged the Romance of it all — the fourth studio album from the Dublin rock group that swept up Grammy and Mercury Prize nominations, widespread critical acclaim, syncs in TV shows and video games, and a first-time breakthrough in the UK Billboard charts with the explosive, frantic art punk single “Starburster.” (It peaked at no. 57.)

Quiet on and off stage, Fontaines maintain an elusive seriousness that keeps them tucked away from the media; but they’re a press magnet anyway, filmed and blogged about at every show, as if each performance is a capital B Big moment in music.

At Monday’s concert, a stop on the way to their new record Dopamine Chamber (out October 16), Brooklynites welcomed the Irish five-piece like they were the biggest band in the world. At this point in their career, a US critic might finally say they “made it.”

To give Fontaines D.C. credit, they were already playing (and rightfully succeeding) like the biggest band in the world before they conquered America with Romance. The Irish rockers debuted in 2019 with the sputtering punk of Dogrel and continued to flip four equally knockout records since. I think back to their Rough Trade West storefront performance — a dreary, snowy, and cramped afternoon setting where they punched through every syllable of “Big,” and already their composure, no-nonsense delivery, and sheer reverence for the artistry of their music and lyrics locked into place.

Fast-forward to the present, and they’ve sold out the historic Slane Castle, Ireland’s largest rock stadium that housed some of the country’s biggest legends. Even at last night’s show, the members had a commanding presence about them that only comes with a great rock band. Front man Grian Chatten was practically the audience’s choreographer the whole night, half-motioning a wave gesture until the entire crowd mimicked it back to him until the song ended.

The best part about them is, however, that Fontaines are still that band singing “Boys in the Better Land” and “Big” with tremendous fervor. Their set at Kings Theatre was pure class: no wasting time goading for an encore and ten seconds of talking total — a cry for the freedom of Palestine, a sign of gratitude for the openers Rew — their connection to the crowd relied primarily on their solid discography, which was represented plenty throughout the evening’s performance. While yes, the Romance tracks got the most screams and sing-along moments, with the finale “Starburster” finally getting most of the pit to put their phones down and break into a rager, audience members dutifully followed along to the sludgy “Nabokov,” the (sped-up!) tongue-twister breakdown to “I Love You,” and the A Hero’s Death psych punk raver “Televised Mind.”

Then, the time to preview Dopamine Chamber came.

“Marianne,” the chiming synth rock clunker the band released in August, was tacked right at the top of the setlist. Of all the songs on the record played on Monday, it’s certainly the brightest, echoing the starry-eyed spectral synth notes of Romance. “Six Shot Morning,” which Fontaines debuted live around the same time as the lead single, came third to last in the set.

But the true darkness of the new record cracked through during the concert’s midway point. The headline moment was the debut of “Tongue,” a distorted, downbeat sludge rock tune that draws from the melancholy of Massive Attack and Depeche Mode. Then came “Happy For You,” a desolate ballad that has Chatten’s vocals soaring over a singular guitar until tension builds to a sickening death metal-esque drop. If Romance tried to find any hope on Earth, its follow-up let it slip through the band’s fingers, disintegrating as the world becomes colder, dissociated, and fake. But, especially when experienced live and in dialogue with the rest of their discography, the new material is nothing short of entrancing.

Even in their most vulnerable, hopeless state with Dopamine Chamber, Fontaines D.C. are unafraid of change. The wow factor of their music, which could exist universes away from their scratchy punk Dublin origins, comes from their tender lyricism, world-building composition, and stirring delivery. The band embodies confidence both on and off the stage. This is what makes them the coolest, if not the biggest, band right now.