I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2021] The Front Bottoms

Even though I tend to dislike Starland Ballroom, when I saw that The Front Bottoms were playing on Philly and then ending their tour at Starland, I knw I had to pick Starland.  End of the tour at a hometown show?  The choice was obvious.  And it was right.

Because in Philly, they played 23 songs but in NJ they played 31, including their entire first album front to back.

I first heard The Front Bottoms in 2013 and somehow never got around to seeing them live.  They’ve had a few shows (what they call Champagne Jams) the last few years.  I didn’t really want to see them in that kind of Festival attitude.  I did get tickets for the 2019 show but wound up not going.

So here was my redemption.

The band was a lot of fun and the crowd was so into it.  Yes they were pushy and shovy but it was all for the good of the show (at least until I saw a girl flee the room with a bloody nose).  There was a mosh pit, there was crowd surfing and more crowd surfing.  It was insane!

Most of their songs are fast and fun and lend to a lot of singing along (which we all did).  And even though these songs are kind of pop punk, they’re not short two minute ditties.  So I really didn’t know how long the show would be.

Previous sets ended after 19 songs (plus encores), so I was a little surprised when they ended the set (with the perfect set ender, “Au Revoir (Adios)” at only 16 songs.  But I figured they were going to give us a long encore.

Brian Stella is an engaging and funny front man.  And since he’s from New Jersey, he’s totally relatable to me.  The band was tight as anything with touring members Erik Kase Romero playing some great guitar and really bringing the energy and terrific bass and outstanding  backing vocals from Natalie Newbold.

I also like the way Brian deferred to drummer (and co-founder) Mathew Uychich for all decisions (as you can see in the setlist).

I’m not exactly sure if this tour was an anniversary tour specifically, but they had been flashing the Front Bottoms’ album cover in promo posters.

But it was a cool and wonderful moment when Brian said, it’s the last night of tour.  It’s Sunday night.  We have nothing to do tomorrow, so we’ll just keep playing.  And it was Mat’s decision to play the whole album back to front.

Nice.

It’s funny when bands say they could play all night and then quit after another couple of songs, but that’s pretty much what happened.  Brian said they were going to do a few more encores–fan requests.  And they had nowhere to go.

But three songs later, they were done.  And that was fine.  It was crazy late and we were all exhausted.

I wanted to see what kind of merch they had for sale but the line was so long, I just took off and maybe it home relatively quickly (the one good thing about Starland).

I don’t know if another show from them could ever hold up to this one, but I had so much fun I’d certainly see them again. Maybe with my son next time, who i knew liked the band but didn’t want to go for some reason.

λ In Sickness and in Flames (2020)
Ð Going Grey (2017)
⇑ Back on Top (2015)
∑ Talon of the Hawk (2013)
⊄ GDP & The Front Bottoms (2015)
ß The Front Bottoms (2011)
⊗ I Hate My Friends (2008)