Front Bottoms Concert Review

The Front Bottoms concert review – Cleveland, OH – The Agora – October 30, 2015

I’ve been to my fair share of sold out pop-punk shows in my years of concerting, all of which have been full of insanely loud fans, mosh pits and intense amounts of energy. However, nothing compared to the intensity of the sold out Front Bottoms show Friday night (10.30.15) at The Agora.

As is the norm at pop-punk shows, fans completely lose their minds and mosh their brains out the first 3 to 4 songs, and then things simmer considerably until the final numbers. (With the exception of a few restless crowd surfers, of course!) Front Bottoms fans were a completely different breed. I don’t think a single person stopped moving from their opening song (“Skeleton”) to their closing encore (“Twin Size Mattress”), both from the 2013 record ‘Talon of the Hawk.’ The security guards at the front of the stage were catching crowd surfers nonstop, yelling at fans to get down from each others’ shoulders in an attempt to make sure all members of the ever dangerous pit were safe.

With their giant “TFB” inflatable letters, Christmas lights and flower covered drum kit, the look of the Front Bottoms stage was eye-catching before the band even came on stage. Of course, things only got better when the guys started playing. Their 21 song set list featured one or more songs off of every album, giving old and new fans a chance to scream their hearts out to every word.

Frontman Brian Sella wore a smile the entire night, thanking fans repeatedly and expressing his amazement for their excitement and love for the band. The group agreed that (as far as they could tell) this was the most people they had played to before and by far the most energetic. Fans screamed along to angsty anthms like “The Plan (Fuck Jobs)” and messy love songs like their single “Cough It Out” both from their brand new album, ‘Back on Top’ (09.18.15; Fueled By Ramen).

At times, as a fan, when a band says “tonight is the best show on this tour!” it can feel like clichéd lip service, but I felt a sincerity coming from The Front Bottoms on this night. The members of the band looked truly amazed by the love and support from the audience that night. Before the show, the band posted a picture of the empty Agora from the balcony with the caption “Holy crap can you see me down there!?!? Cleveland this is going to be intense and amazing…”

After seeing the smiles on their faces all night and the intensity of the crowd, I think the band got just what they were hoping for.