Live Review: The Front Bottoms – Road To The Jam UK Tour – Manchester Academy 1

The Front Bottoms supported by Vundabar at Manchester Academy 1 was a packed out show and for good reason.

Vundabar kicked off the night with an energetic vibe that warmed up the crowd. ‘Ash In the Sun’ and ‘Alien Blues’ were some absolute crowd favourites. The chorus of ‘Alien Blues’ is commonly used on tik-tok so the room exploded with energy when the song went into the chorus. A great way to start the night.

Now sufficiently warmed up, the crowd were ready for the main attraction of the night. The Front Bottoms kicked off their set with ‘West Virginia’ bringing a very unique and unmatched energy to Academy 1. Front man Brian Sella had boxing gloves swinging from his mic stand, foreshadowing them playing ‘Punching Bag’ later on in their set. He also sported a turtle neck which he would later take off while encouraging the crowd to chant ‘fuck turtle necks’. To complete his onstage look he opted for no shoes and just a pair of patterned socks, this complimented his stage presence and attitude perfectly.

The crowd were quick to shout song requests at the band and they certainly delivered with ‘Wolfman’, and in return the crowd helped sing the whole song without missing a word. ‘2YL’ was definitely a highlight of the evening as it got the crowd off their feet as high as they possibly could and singing with even more effort than before.

‘Batman’ was clearly a hit off the new album, and it was clear they were very proud of it based on their performance tonight. Th band approached the song with so much energy and raw emotion throughout. ‘Vacation Town’ stood out as a clear fan favourite with the room exploding with cheers as soon as the first chord was played.

Before leaving stage prior to their encore, The Front Bottoms played ‘Au Revior (Adios)’ a song all about goodbyes which seemed fitting. They were very quickly chanted back on stage for their encore before ending on ‘Twin Size Mattress’ which was an obvious choice and it was a clear end to the show but that didn’t stop the crowd from wanting more despite a very reasonably long set.

The Front Bottoms are definitely one to catch on their next tour and they certainly were a perfect band for Manchester’s Academy 1.