Fountains of Wayne at The Academy on November 11th 2011

Words by Kev Meagher

There is nothing worse than the feeling that you are getting old, and I got an unkindly reminder of this when I went to check out Fountains of Wayne play The Academy. I have been a fan of the band since I heard ‘Denise’ played on Phantom nearly ten years ago, and naturally I jumped at the opportunity to see them live after all these years, but I can’t help feeling that the gig was that bit too long in coming for all in attendance last Sunday night.

It has been a long time since Fountains of Wayne played Ireland, actually it has been a long time since the band played anywhere as they are just back from a four year hiatus with a new album ‘Sky Full of Holes’, and as I arrived at The Academy I was looking forward to hearing the numerous gems from their back catalogue and the more mature, acoustic-based new material.

The night wasn’t a sell out by any means but a healthy crowd was in attendance, especially considering the bands time away from the spotlight. As Fountains of Wayne took to the stage, opening with ‘Little Red Light’, the first thing that struck me is how much older they looked. Four years is a long time in music and these power pop youngsters have given way to middle aged musicians. This was also reflected in the composition of the crowd, which itself ranged from pop kids at the front wanting to hear ‘Stacy’s Mom’ and their middle aged parents at the back who were looking forward to ‘Hackensack’. This gave the gig a very strange split dynamic that really made for a disappointing atmosphere, with kids scared to be the only ones dancing and the older folk happy with just bobbing their heads.

The band themselves put on a good show despite the unenthusiastic crowd they were playing in front of, they must have known something was up when people prematurely clapped during the false endings in a few songs. The set was a really good mix of the band’s material and the new tracks they played really held their own, songs like ‘Richie and Ruben’ and ‘A Summer Place’ stood up to Classics like ‘Mexican Wave’, ‘Valley Winter Song’ and ‘Someone To Love’. For ‘Hey Julie’ they got a few of the crowd up to add some percussion, but with the audience so quiet it just came across as awkward. The band then played a few 80’s classics in the middle of the classic ‘Radiation Vibe’ before leaving the stage.

While the band seemed to take their encore a bit early, on their return invited support acts Pugwash and James Rand out of stage for a jam to ‘Someone’s going to break your heart’ from the new album. They then ran through acoustic tracks ‘Cemetery Guns’, ‘I-95’ and crowd favourite ‘Hackensack’ before closing with ‘Stacy’s Mom’ and ‘Sink to the Bottom’.

Overall I left The Academy on Sunday night disappointed, this is not how I imagined my first Fountains of Wayne experience would go. It felt like for everyone there that this gig came five years too late to be an all time classic, and instead it was an unwanted reminder that time waits for no one.

Setlist
Little Red Light
I’ve Got a Flair
Mexican Wine
Someone to Love
Please Leave The Biker
The Summer Place
Richie and Ruben
Troubled Times
Bright Future in Sales
Valley Winter Song
Hey Julie
Barbara H
Radiation Vibe
Encore:
Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart
Cemetery Guns
I-95
Hackensack
Stacy’s Mom
Sink to the Bottom