“There’s a line all the way to the monorail!”
That’s what you would have heard when arriving at the House of Blues for The Front Bottoms show last week. “What is this, a Dashboard concert?”
Well, not quite, though both bands rose to prominence thanks to personal lyrics played over acoustic guitar strings. As a fan, it’s fascinating and exciting to watch the band continue to grow in popularity. They picked a name that means “vagina” because they didn’t think anyone would listen to them- and yet they’ve come this far.
The band came out to the theme from Austin Powers, which was pretty groovy. Unfortunately, there were no jokes about penis pumps. Or maybe there were and I couldn’t hear them over the near-deafening roar of the extremely young crowd.
Frontman Brian Sella and the rest of the band launched into “Be Nice to Me,” and from there, it was fan favorite after fan favorite. I’d say “Maps,” “West Virginia,” “Au Revoir (Adios),” and “The Beers” were among the biggest with the audience but really, whatever song they played elicited reactions ranging from bobbing heads and singing along to people clutching each other while screaming lyrics at their friends.
Sella still keeps to the band’s small show roots by interacting with the crowd between songs. He took a few questions, turned down one fan who asked to come on stage to play a song, and took a handful of requests, including “Father,” “Flashlight” and Grand Finale.” The band also appealed to their Vegas fans by playing in front of a Golden Knights LCD banner (they were playing at the same time as the team’s season opener).
“Come on, baby, calm me down / You’re the only one who knows how” sang Sella during “Skeleton,” ironic in the fact that the band did anything but calm people down that night.
In direct support was Seattle’s Great Grandpa. They’re a little bit emo revival, a little bit twee pop, with a big pinch of Weezer thrown in for good measure. Musically they were a lot of fun, with a lot of tempo changes that kept things interesting.
-Emily Matview
Photos by Christopher Mounts | http://www.christophermounts.com
Front Bottoms:
Great Grandpa:
The Front Bottoms setlist:
Be Nice to Me
Maps
Wolfman
Flying Model Rockets
Skeleton
West Virginia
Peach
The Plan (Fuck Jobs)
Vacation Town
Au Revoir (Adios)
The Beers
Father
Flashlight
Grand Finale
Swimming Pool
Tie Dye Dragon
Twin Size Mattress
Twelve Feet Deep
Jim Bogart
Ocean
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