Confusingly, Sarah Brightman’s voice began warbling through the speakers in her rendition of ‘Time To say Goodbye’ as the crowd anticipated the arrival of The Front Bottoms. The only explanation I could think of for this was that it had something to do with their latest EP ‘Rose’ being dedicated to Matthew’s (drums) Gran – perhaps this was a favourite song of hers? However they then strolled on to burst straight into the bouncy ‘Skeleton’.

Despite this being the fourth time seeing The Front Bottoms perform live, the contrast between listening to their recorded material and their live performance still struck me. They are known for their angst-ridden tales, with their early tracks originally sung alongside a simple set up of acoustic guitar and drums. Giving the tracks from their debut album a live airing meant that they were able to amplify the essence of punk-rock, without the energy and charisma finding itself restricted as it sometimes finds itself in recorded versions.  Tracks taken from Talon Of The Hawk dominated the set; this meant an eclectic mix of trumpets, keys and tambourines alongside an injection of their carefree personalities, leading to an impromptu drum solo halfway through ‘Au Revoir (Adios)’ and back-flips from the bassist.

Friday night’s set proved that The Front Bottoms are the nicest guys in Punk-Rock.  After almost every other song Brian would stop to gush about how grateful he was to the crowd, the band, the crew, his twin sister, etc., before inviting a drunk teen lad up to dance with him. After ending the set with ‘Maps’, which pumped up the crowd with Matthew’s relentless drumming, they returned to the stage for a crowd-dominated A cappella sing-a-long. The encore was fittingly wrapped up with ‘Twin Sized Mattress’ – a touchingly relatable song of solidarity – as confetti burst over our heads and balloons tumbled into crowd, swiftly followed by Ciaran still wrapped up in his guitar lead.

The Garage was the last stop on The Front Bottoms’ UK tour and hopefully the boys from New Jersey won’t leave it too long until the next one.  They have found their own ground in the world of punk-rock with their familiar tales of heartbreak and growing pains, proving that the punk genre is all about solidarity.

[Photo by Pauline Nguyen]

Nicky Lee-Delisle

@ManicNicky