Show Review | The Front Bottoms at Stage AE

by Bella Lardin

“I’ve got boulders on my shoulders, collarbones begin to crack. There is very little left of me, and it’s never coming back.”

These were the first words sung by Front Bottoms lead singer Brian Sella at their September outdoor show at Stage AE. They struck me not because of their earnestness, but because of the feeling that I had heard them years ago and forgotten. Thus began a pattern of “reconnecting with my younger self” that was to become the theme of that night— an unexpectedly profound experience from what I was expecting to be “just another emo concert”.

I attended the Front Bottoms show on something of a whim- the original ticket-holder called in sick and I had no plans for my Sunday night, so I offered to fill in. To my knowledge, I had never actually heard a song by the headliner before, barring a few ten-second snippets of their 2013 track “Twin Size Mattress” that had gone viral on TikTok earlier in the year. It was exciting to be attending such a large venue without knowing what to expect from the headliner, an experience usually only reserved for house shows or the Mr. Roboto Project.

Before we even entered the venue, as we made our way to the end of the already long line, I was stunned by just how young a lot of these fans were. This wasn’t a crowd of elder emos coming back together to relive their teenage years, these were the alt/emo/whatever kids of today. I was honestly a little shocked to see such a young crowd at the same venue that had hosted Death Grips, beeabadoobee, and Alvvays just one month prior- I wasn’t this cool in middle school!- but I began to understand when I learned that The Front Bottoms had recently signed to Fueled By Ramen. I guess some things never change.

We made our way to the lawn just minutes before the show began. The opening act, Vundabar, totally subverted my expectations. Each band member appeared to be a very technically skilled musician, and the songs were well-crafted, danceable, and fun with little focus on the lyrics; they were the complete opposite of The Front Bottoms. Their performance was easily one of the best I’d seen all year. (I even liked it enough to recommend them to my mom mid-set.) Vundabar wrapped up their set after just a handful of songs, and after a short break, Brian Sella and the rest of The Front Bottoms took the stage.

They could not have picked a better opener- “Be Nice To Me” had everyone near the stage moshing, and immediately caught the attention of the rest of the showgoers. I must have heard the song in passing around the time that it first came out, because I shocked myself by knowing most of the words. I sang along with some of it and went into the rest of the show feeling exhilarated and excited for what other surprises The Front Bottoms might have in store for me.

The next highlight of the set came with their fifth song, “Paris”. I had given their most recent album, You Are Who You Hang Out With, a quick listen just before the concert, and this track had stuck in my memory. I didn’t like it at first, but the live performance converted me- less because of the song itself, more because of how perfect the explosion into “Vacation Town” was. This would be a pattern throughout the night; The Front Bottoms knows how to craft a setlist. Each song perfectly segued into the next, so much so that the concert experience felt more like listening to a double album that a collection of fan favorites. This is especially impressive considering The Front Bottoms’ large catalogue; they played from 10 different releases in a 23 song set.

After an energetic if somewhat inconsistent start, The Front Bottoms proceeded into the second half of their setlist, which featured two fantastic runs- four songs “Au Revoir” to “Outlook”, and the six-song run of “The Beers” to “leaf pile”, with “Punching Bag” in between as the only weak spot. It was at this point that the show went from being just a pretty good show to something more meaningful to me. For the second time that night, I found myself singing along to a song I didn’t even know I had heard before, shouting along with the chorus of “Au Revoir”. As I sang along, I started to feel a lot less like a college radio DJ on a journalism assignment and a lot more like the 15-year old girl screaming at a Twenty One Pilots concert. I’d been to lots of shows in Pittsburgh, but none until this point had felt so much like an escape. I made a mental note to give some of the older Front Bottoms albums a listen when I got home.

Though I was not so familiar with the next two songs, “love at first sight” and “Far Drive”, they held my attention until the band arrived at “Outlook”, my undisputed favorite of You Are Who You Hang Out With. This one I knew every word to, and had we been sitting a little closer to the stage, I probably would have jumped into the mosh pit. I thought that would be the highlight of the night… until they began playing “The Beers”. Outside of the opener and later the encore, this was the liveliest the crowd would be all night. Although this song was totally unfamiliar to me, it was probably my favorite performance outside of the encore if only for how much the crowd seemed to love it. They kept up a high energy for the rest of the band’s set, all the way until “leaf pile”, the last song before the encore.

By this point, The Front Bottoms had totally won me over. The 3-song encore began with “12 Feet Deep” before flowing into “2YL”- easily the best performance of the night- and finally the big hit, “Twin Size Mattress”. My friend began ushering us to the door, hoping to beat the crowd to the venue exit, but I was still enchanted by what was going on around me, and we ended up standing at the side of the stage watching Brian Sella and nearly every attendee scream the song’s now-famous outro. Thus concluded what turned out to be quite an emotional Sunday night for me. And although it won’t compare to the live performance, I do have to recommend that no matter who you are, you at least give The Front Bottoms a shot. Not every song is for everyone- for as much as I may love “Outlook”, I doubt I’ll ever come around on “Punching Bag”- but I think if you look hard enough, you’ll find something that speaks to you.