New Jersey’s own indie-folk-punk rockers, The Front Bottoms, headlined a sold out show at The Fillmore Philly on Friday night with what felt like an arena scale performance. If you’ve ever been to a Front Bottoms show, then you’ll know there is no shortage of energy, from either the band or the crowd. Complete with crowd surfing, mosh pits, and fists pumping wildly in the air, The Front Bottoms command a crowd. We covered their annual Champagne Jam at The Fillmore in December 2019, just before the pandemic put a halt to live music everywhere. At the time, it seemed the fans couldn’t love this band any more. However, as it seems to be with nearly every show we’ve covered since this year’s return to concerts, enthusiasm for live music has reached new heights.
For a band like The Front Bottoms, whose songwriting is heavily rooted in the punky folktales of growing up Jersey, partying with your friends, and touring the country in a van playing music, every single lyric seems to resonate. Every song is the crowd’s favorite song. Every word must be shouted. From beginning to end, it seemed neither the band nor the crowd had a chance to catch their breath. With a jam-packed 23-song setlist, frontman Brian Sella’s vocals carried through The Fillmore with a chorus of 2,500 backup singers supporting his every word.
A neon sign with the title of The Front Bottoms’ most recent album In Sickness & In Flames decorated the stage, as the band performed almost the entirety of the record, including “Montgomery Forever”, “Everyone Blooms”, and “Jerk”, but did not short the fans on any Front Bottoms classics, such as “Vacation Town”, “Twin Size Mattress”, and “Maps”. The band was supported by openers Sydney Sprague and Oso Oso. See The Front Bottoms’ full setlist below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
The Front Bottoms Setlist (10/22/2021)
– Flashlight
– Today Is Not Real
– West Virginia
– Love at First Sight
– Tie Dye Dragon
– Backflip
– Vacation Town
– Jerk
– The Beers
– The Plan (Fuck Jobs)
– Wolfman
– Lone Star
– Cough It Out
– Everyone Blooms
– Voodoo Magic
– Maps
– Montgomery Forever
– Twin Size Mattress
– Au Revoir (Adios)
// Encore //
– Twelve Feet Deep
– Skeleton
– More Than It Hurts You
– Leaf Pile
