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\nCharli XCX performs at Outside Lands in San Francisco (Pic: Getty)<\/p>\n
John Moriarty heads to Leeds Festival in the U.K. to witness two very different headliners… and discovers a shared conviction and a shared audience, who could care less about musical genres.<\/p>\n
All Aboard<\/p>\n
6:50 AM flight. A woman in the row opposite has the same t-shirt as me. We’re clearly among a dedicated few travelling from Belfast to the Leeds Festival, for a unique Saturday main stage double-header: Fontaines DC and Charli XCX.<\/p>\n
Fontaines have been among my staples since their debut Dogrel. Layered soundscapes and lyrical nuance reward repeat listening. But they\u2019re not the reason I\u2019ve boarded this propeller plane. For that, there\u2019s a three-word explanation: Music, Fashion, Film.<\/p>\n
The new Charli XCX album got a grip of me in late July and wouldn\u2019t let go. The Brat phenomenon mostly passed me by. Interesting record, some instant classics, and I delight in any LP creating a cultural moment \u2013 it just wasn\u2019t my moment.<\/p>\n
By her own telling, Music, Fashion, Film is Charli\u2019s reaction to Brat: sonically distinct; lyrics contemplate life after being last season\u2019s phenomenon. Its crunching guitar sound palate is as convincing as it is unexpected. The opening and closing words seem to conjoin into a manifesto: nothing lasts forever, so I make things with my friends.<\/p>\n
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Watch: Charli XCX performs No One Lasts Forever at the BBC<\/p>\n
Not everybody understands the live music bug. Why go to the hassle? For me, it\u2019s about sharing a passion, communing with whomever desires to scream out the same songs together, or move about to them, or whatever combination works. Leeds\/Reading were Charli\u2019s only 2026 UK or Irish dates. And paired with Fontaines? Don\u2019t think. Just click.<\/p>\n
High Noon<\/p>\n
Frying oil, drying grass \u2013 an unmistakable aromatic blend. One constant across years of outdoor gigs. Faces get younger, fashions come, headliners go. But these outings all smell alike<\/p>\n
Fashion-wise, both headliners have captured aesthetic as well as musical imaginations. The most popular item is the blue and pink ‘Bohemians X Fontaines DC Football Shirt\u2019. The Charli kit is more DIY: less uniform, more about dressing for a big night out. Wrap-around sunglasses, \u2018brat green\u2019 splashes optional. Thigh-high shorts, loud jeans, deafening jewellery, recommended.<\/p>\n
“Leeds is always a young crowd.” Helen is here with her sister and her fifteen-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
So, who are they here to see?<\/p>\n
“Charli and Fontaines,” sister Kaylie says, like it’s a double-act.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t contain my curiosity. Festival line-ups once resembled the Guitar Hero catalogue. How did we reach the point where fans go from bopping to ‘Von Dutch\u2019 one minute to singing \u2018Boys in the Better Land\u2019?<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s just good music, right?” says Helen. “People don\u2019t mind if something\u2019s dance or rock or country, so long as it\u2019s good.”<\/p>\n
Pit<\/p>\n
Here we go. As Skepta raps his set, I brace for the pit queue. A thousand bodies, shuffling to be admitted fifty at a time. This \u2018system\u2019 isn\u2019t for the claustrophobic. Some lose hope, retreat towards higher ground. But persistence pays, and soon I\u2019m twenty rows from the stage, in amongst the committed. The dream.<\/p>\n
Then, suddenly, we\u2019re on. The chopped opening chord loop from \u2018Rock Music\u2019, heavy bursts of thrashing guitar, blasts of fire.<\/p>\n
\u2018Me and my friends…\u2019<\/p>\n
\nCharli XCX performs at Outside Lands in San Francisco (Pic: Getty)<\/p>\n
Charli\u2019s friends ascend into view on a rising platform for the opening volley of tunes, then descend, leaving her to steward the Brat reprisal. Overall, the crowd quietens during the newer material, while \u2018Club classics\u2019, \u2018Apple\u2019 et al. draw wild responses. It\u2019s a proper show throughout, full of movement, composure, conviction and infectious tunes. As with the album, the set ends with \u2018No One Lasts Forever\u2019, booming out while the main camera zooms slowly back, from an artist still at her peak.<\/p>\n
Conviction. Move at your pace, let the audience meet you where you are. Both let the music do the talking, feeling little compulsion to chat at length between songs.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s some turnover in the pit: some head out, perhaps for a comfort break, perhaps to dance on elsewhere. Most stay. I compare notes with Jacob and Livinia from Sheffield \u2013 he’s a Fontaines fan, though glad of his partner\u2019s encouragement to come see Charli up close. “I\u2019m definitely a guitars guy, but it\u2019s good seeing different genres mixing.”<\/p>\n
How would he classify Fontaines D.C., who don\u2019t have traditional guitar sounds or licks? “They\u2019re very vocals oriented. But the vocals are so unique, there isn\u2019t really anyone else like them.” (Mention Whipping Boy? Maybe another time.)<\/p>\n
![\"Grian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789639456_503_0024ece3-614.jpg\"\/)
\nGrian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. performs at Electric Picnic 2026<\/p>\n
Soon enough, his boys are on, bouncing from the Dogrel end of catalogue all the way forwards to new single \u2018Marianne\u2019. Once a bundle of nervous energy, 2026 Grian Chatten strides up the middle platform, no more intimidated by the crowd than Charli before him.<\/p>\n
Sure, his movement is less rehearsed, his crowdwork more immediate than with the camera. But kinships between the two acts quickly appear.<\/p>\n
Conviction. Move at your pace, let the audience meet you where you are. Both let the music do the talking, feeling little compulsion to chat at length between songs. But words do matter: whether you’re singing about underwear colour schemes, or whose mammy or daddy was Fine Gael or Fianna F\u00e1il, audiences respond to specificity and originality, and happily belt those words back from the nearest available set of shoulders.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear that Fontaines, and those who advise them, are timing things to perfection, always that step ahead. A trio of new songs goes over well, ‘Six Shot Morning\u2019 the standout, heralding yet more innovation. They\u2019ve honed the craft of putting on a show on their own terms. Yes, they commit to an aesthetic, let the designers and stylists earn their corn. And yes, they rely on Chatten\u2019s ability to lead from the front and keep the crowd on a string. But the collective responsibility of the five is clear: write songs, make them great, play them well.<\/p>\n
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Watch: Fontaines D.C. perform In The Modern World at Reading Festival 2026<\/p>\n
The Leeds main stage, The Grid, is a big wide natural amphitheatre \u2013 not unlike a certain mansion on the River Boyne where 160,000 Fontaines fans will gather next June. Wandering to a more distant vantage point, I\u2019m relieved to find no dip in energy or engagement. It\u2019s carrying well, and as \u2018Favourite\u2019 rings out, fans nearer the bar use the additional elbow room to swing themselves about a bit. Even back here, they know all the words.<\/p>\n
This weekend of consecutive headliners marks a huge milestone; album five Dopamine Chamber will be appointment listening. But the peak still looms in the distance \u2013 even Slane won\u2019t be the extent of the group\u2019s ambition.<\/p>\n
Momentary blissness? Not for these lads.<\/p>\n
Exit<\/p>\n
Queuing for the exit, a last thought. Here: this is where the crossover happens, where genres melt and fuse. Two mates compare pictures from the day, chat to another group about who else they\u2019ve saw. Geese, Declan McKenna, Skye Newman, Ad\u00e9la all get a mention. Music labels can hire as many producers, designers as they can afford, but music isn\u2019t chemistry. It\u2019s a people game.<\/p>\n
Write your tune, with conviction. Commit. Make it good. Play it with your friends. If someone hears it, shares it, goes out of their way to hear it again, then all the better.<\/p>\n
Chari XCX plays the 3Arena Dublin on 13th February 2027, while Fontaines D.C. play Slane Castle on June 26th and 27th 2027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Moriarty heads to Leeds Festival in the U.K. to witness two very different headliners… and discovers a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-627360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}