Photos by Lachlan Vester.
The Front Bottoms kicked off their Back On Top: Ten Years Tour at the Ritz in Raleigh on the twelfth of December 2025. Before getting any further into this post I must confide in the reader that I am a huge fan of The Front Bottoms and have seen them several times. Despite this, I will do my best to keep an unbiased view of this show.
The show kicked off with NOBRO, an all-female outfit of hard rockers who had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands for their whole set. NOBRO absolutely killed their set and set the bar high for the rest of the night.
Once The Front Bottoms took the stage, the crowd was in pure excitement. I have never seen anything like it. There was an aura of pure joy that was palpable throughout the entire venue. The opening song was “Motorcycle” (Of course) as they played the entire album “Back on Top” front to back (Or front to bottom, depending on who you’re asking).
Some of my absolute favorites of the night included “Cough It Out”, “Laugh Till I Cry”, and “West Virginia”. These songs are all classics from the album and were amazing to hear live.
The show closed with the obvious playing of “Twin Sized Mattress,” Which while not from “Back On Top,” is an absolute must for The Front Bottoms.
The overall vibe of this show was immaculate. Brian Sella and the rest of The Front Bottoms put their all into this show, and I would love to see them again.
-Lachlan Vester