When I turned up at The Garage in London on Friday night I
was in for a bit of a shock. There was a queue! I can’t remember the last time
I had to queue up for a gig. I wondered when did The Front Bottoms get so big? I
mean it’s great for them and it’s well deserved but it did take me by surprise.
The opening band were one of the most talked about bands of
the summer, Canada’s Pup. I haven’t had a chance to listen to Pup at the time
but a friend I had made in the crowd named George described them as a Canadian
Gnarwolves, can’t go wrong there then. The Garage was already pretty much full
by the time they got on stage, probably something to do with the one hour and
fifteen minutes gap between doors opening and Pup starting the set. Frankly a
wait of that long is ridiculous but that’s a blog for another day. Within the
first song I realised why there was such a big buzz surrounding Pup, my gosh
they really give it some beans live. Pup don’t slowly ease into a set they
attack in full speed from the start. Despite never hearing any of the songs
before I found myself wanting to sing along with them, that’s how catchy they
were. With some slight prodding from Pup the crowd were getting crazy with some
fantastic crowd surfing. As well as being an excellent band and excellent
songwriters they also came across as incredibly nice and humble guys on stage,
constantly thanking everyone around them. I can’t wait to see them again and
hope they go really really far.
After Pup had finished it was time for New Jerseys The Front
Bottoms. I was amazed at just how far they had come in a short space of time. I
remember seeing them support The Menzingers at The Borderline in 2012 and not
really having a clue who they were. I fell in love with them that night; I found
them to be really infectious and was really happy to see them headlining a
venue easily twice the size just two years later. From the off The Front
Bottoms had everyone in The Garage in the palm of their hands. Their unique
folk/pop punk songs were sung loud and proud by everyone in the increasingly
warm room. There is an uplifting quality about The Front Bottoms songs, even
that their darkest topically it’s hard not to crack a smile when listening to
them, especially live. I hadn’t realised just how many great songs The Front
Bottoms have, playing great song after great song. Every song was very well
received but the biggest reactions were saved for Flashlight, Au Revoir, The
Beers, Swimming Pool, Maps and Twin Size Mattress. Another highlight was during
the song Backflip where front man Brian got a member of the crowd on stage who
he had spoken with earlier and got him to stage dive. I have to say this was
one of the best stage dives I had ever seen, the guy got some great height and
was actually caught by the crowd. Speaking of the crowd, this was one of the
loveliest I had ever been in, especially at a gig of this size. Everyone was
super friendly. At one point I was helping a guy crowd surf and somehow my
headphone which was hanging out of my shirt managed to get caught in his laces
and pulled my iPod of my pocket. I had no idea where it went until I saw a
lovely lady with it in her hand. The kindness of strangers is brilliant.
This was a fantastic gig, both bands were great and everyone
had a brilliant time. Can’t wait to see both bands again.
Check out Pup here: https://www.facebook.com/puptheband
Check out The Front Bottoms here: https://www.facebook.com/thefrontbottoms
Now listening to Prisoner Of Society by Luke Hilly and the Cavalry
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