THE FRONT BOTTOMS LIVE!! | LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
The Front Bottoms kicked off their Fall tour on September 14th at Mulcahy's Pub in Wantagh, NY on Long Island. Openers The Joy Formidable and Mobley each performed impressive and high energy sets, hyping the crowd up before The Front Bottoms finally took the stage. They kicked off their set with "The Supply of Power", off their new EP "Theresa", which was the first time that song has been played live. They followed up with "jerk" and fan-favorite "Be Nice To Me", and continued their set with a strong and well balanced mix of around 20 songs, both new and old. Some standout moments of the night include when they performed their emotional hits "Twin Size Mattress" and "Lonestar", the incredible lighting during "Tie Dye Dragon", and their pre-encore closer of "leaf pile" off of their album "In Sickness & In Flames".
The band had incredible energy both while performing and while engaging with the crowd. At one point, lead singer Brian Sella happily declared that the most important person in the room was "the guy in charge of turning on the bubble machine", and continued to excitedly request bubbles at random in-between moments throughout the night. At another point, between songs, the band took a break from playing to instead toss plastic hot dogs into the crowd. It was later realized that the paper each of the hot dogs were wrapped in was actually a setlist for that night's show, signed by the full band, which the lucky fans who caught the hot dogs got to keep as a memento. The performances and energy from the whole band were infectious, and the crowd gave just as much back. At any given moment someone was crowd surfing, while others danced, moshed, and yelled back all the words. The layout of Mulcahy's also meant there was no bad spot in the crowd. If the first night is any indication for how the rest of their tour will go, then it's not one to be missed. They will continue touring through all of October, so be sure to see them when they come by your city!
The Front Bottoms are an indie rock/folk punk band from New Jersey and have been releasing music since their beloved self titled album in 2011. They recently put out a new EP, titled "Theresa", as part of a series of EPs known as the "Grandma EPs". Essentially, these EPs are re-recorded versions of old songs that weren't previously properly recorded and released, each named after drummer Mat and frontman Brian's grandmothers. The latest, "Theresa", can be found on streaming platforms and contains 5 songs, including "More Than It Hurts You".
Contributing Editor and Photographer Carly Palicz
