Hundreds of people gathered outside of Stage AE to see The Front Bottoms, a popular indie-rock band that has been on the scene since 2006. The band has been a part of the “midwest emo” genre for years, even though the band is from New Jersey. The two permanent band members, Brian Sella and Mat Uychich, were in attendance on September 24th along with a full touring band.
The band played some deep cuts from their first album, various EPs, and songs from their newest, “You Are Who You Hang Out With”. Popular songs off of their popular second album “Talon of the Hawk ” such as “Skeleton” and “Funny You Should Ask” were not played. The band did have a 10th-anniversary run of shows earlier this year, so that is a probable reason behind that choice. Fans of the band were content with the career-spanning set.
The Front Bottoms are touring to celebrate the release of ”You Are Who You Hang Out With”, which came out in August. This album shows a new side of the midwest-emo band. The instrumentation on this album is more involved than the usual instrumentation of acoustic guitar and drumming. The addition of more instrumental tracks in each song on the album enables listeners to be entranced by the full and complex song, rather than just listening to vocals Brian Sella’s lyrics.
Five songs from the new album were played at the show. Hearing these songs live added variety to the set because of how musically diverse the songs are. The singles “Outlook” and “Punching Bag” were played, which caught the likes of old fans who have not listened to the new album yet because the songs have the original Front Bottoms style. The three other songs “Emotional”, “Batman”, and “Paris” provided nice breaks from the other classics that were played that night.
Brain Sella’s vocals have gotten better over the past ten years. He is known for his near tone-deafness on the albums, but he has excelled in vocal harmonies. His nasal tone and talk-singing are authentic and genuine, but not perfect. His voice and energy, along with the themes of heartbreak, college experiences, toxic friendships, and mental health, attracts young audiences to The Front Bottoms. Someone does not have to sing pretty to be successful, and Brian Sella is the perfect example. The second half of The Front Bottoms, Mat Uychich, was full of power and ease as he provided each song with a rhythmic beat.
The crowd was having as much fun as the band was. Attendees knew every word of the song that were played, and it was fun to hear Sella’s talk-singing echo all around the North Shore. The crowd may have been filled with adults, but they were acting as youthful as the teengers that stood next to them.
The crowd went ferrel for the last song of the band’s encore,Twin Sized Mattress, a song that had gained traction on TikTok over the last year. Everyone knew the words to this song, and even if they did not they were singing along. This was the loudest part of the night, and left all of the attendees happy. This concert definitely fueled a fire in the hearts of the attendees and kept them warm throughout the night.
