The Front Bottoms at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (1 Nov 2015)
The Front Bottoms Setlist
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Tour Dates
11/06/15 Denver, CO Summit Music Hall
11/07/15 Salt Lake City, UT Complex
11/09/15 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
11/10/15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
11/12/15 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
11/13/15 Los Angeles, CA EchoPlex
11/14/15 Pomona, CA Glass House
11/15/15 San Diego, CA The Irenic
11/17/15 Mesa, AZ Club Red Theaters
11/19/15 Austin, TX The Parish
11/20/15 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey
11/21/15 Houston, TX Downtown Houston
11/23/15 Tampa, FL The Orpheum
11/24/15 Orlando, FL The Social
11/25/15 Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theater
11/27/15 Silver Spring, MD Fillmore Silver
11/28/15 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
11/29/15 Boston, MA Royale Nightclub Boston
The Front Bottoms is nothing more than four guys from New Jersey who are able to write songs about everyday life and make them catchy. Doesn’t sound too special does it? Well, it is.
You know when you’re at a local show and you hear a band and all you can think is, yeah, these guys have something… Well, The Front Bottoms have something. I couldn’t tell you what. I couldn’t tell you why I listen to them on repeat. I couldn’t tell you why I obsess over them. They just have something.
Maybe it’s the lyrics. Brian Sella, singer, has lyrics about everyday life. There’s nothing special about them other than he doesn’t try too hard. He’s honest and raw in the lyrics but at the same time, he’s not harsh. He sings about break-ups, breakdowns, love, life, and everything in between. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to be anything but real. He doesn’t spruce up the lyrics, he doesn’t make it seem glamourous, and he makes you feel like you wrote the lyrics. That’s the charm.
Maybe it’s the energy. Each time I have seen these guys, I have been blown away by the amount of energy they have and the energy the crowd gives off. It definitely helps that their music is upbeat and you can’t help but to jump and bounce to it. I swear it must have been close to 100 degrees in the Varsity Theater last night just due to the sold out crowd being unable to stand still.
Maybe it’s the fact that Brian Sella and the rest of the guys are so down to earth. Last time I saw these guys, I was able to buy my merchandise directly from them and chat with them for a bit. They were all super nice and down to earth. I didn’t feel like I was talking to touring musicians, I felt like I was catching up with some high school friends that I hadn’t seen in a while. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to talk to them last night. They are quite a bit more popular than they were, their songs are now on the radio and they are selling out venues so they don’t just hang around the merch booth anymore. I still felt some connection to the guys as they played their hearts to the sold out crowd. Even though they seemed larger than life on stage last night, they were still those random guys I was talking up at the Say Anything show in my heart.
Everything about The Front Bottoms’ set last night was perfect. They played all of the songs I wanted them to hear. Brian’s voice sounded perfectly imperfect just like it does on CD. The band was tight but fun and the crowd was involved. That set, in itself, made last night a perfect night.
Last night wasn’t just perfect though, it was amazing. Not only did The Front Bottoms kill it, but I completely fell in love with The Smith Street Band.
The Smith Street Band is a rock band from Australia (not to be confused with Bruce Springsteen’s The E Street Band). They have been around for a couple years at this point but for some reason they were never on my radar. They are now. They really impressed me last night. Their lyrics are raw and honest just like the lyrics from The Front Bottoms only the music is a bit rawer and rock-sounding. They only played for about thirty minutes but for those thirty minutes, I found myself wondering, why the hell have I not gotten into these guys before? I hope these guys come back again soon.
