Sydney Sprague, Oso Oso, The Front Bottoms at First Avenue

Gatrs October 18, 2021 Events

Something about the show on Wednesday just felt right. The bands were on point, the drinks were flowing, and I was with some of the best of friends. It was one of those nights that was just perfect and although my body is paying for it this morning, I wouldn’t change a thing about last night.

Okay, I lied. One thing I would change is how I underestimated the time it would take to get through the line to get into First Avenue. Unfortunately, this misjudgment means I missed the majority of the opening act Sydney Sprague. My friends and I made it inside just in time to hear Sydney and her band perform a flawless rendition of The Killers’ “When You Were Young”. Although I wasn’t able to catch a lot of Sydney’s originals, this cover really set the tone for this up-and-coming band and I was intrigued and kicking myself for not getting there earlier. There was a passion that came off of the stage that was nothing short of infectious and beautiful. Sydney and her band are surely going to be on more tours and I truly hope they come back through the cities soon so I can catch a full set from them!

Oso Oso has been through some things since the last time I saw them including the tragic loss of a member but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing on and that seriously made me so happy.

The last time I saw Oso Oso, the second band on Wednesday night’s bill, was November of 2018 and I have been dreaming of the day I got to see them live again since then. They took the stage and instantly drenched the packed venue with a sense of power and emotion that left me speechless. Vocalist Jade Lilitri had this way of connecting with the young audience even if they had never heard Oso Oso’s music before which added a little sense of magic to their all-too-quick set. This band has been through some things since the last time I saw them including the tragic loss of a member but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing on and that seriously made me so happy. Although I know they don’t have the name power like the headliner of the Wednesday night show yet, I think it’s just a matter of time before they are headlining shows like that. The amount of passion and heart all of Oso Oso has can not be understated and I am so excited to see this group continue to grow.

Whatever you latch onto from The Front Bottoms, they are one of those bands that will not go anywhere any time soon, and catching them live will never not be a highlight of your week.

Headlining the nearly sold-out show was the one and only Front Bottoms. Although The Front Bottoms have been a thing since 2006, it was around 2011 when things really took a turn for this band. They have been selling shows out left and right since then and have continued to produce amazing and distinct music. The Front Bottoms’ style is an interesting one and I feel like it changes depending on who you ask. For me, this band is all about the heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics that hit right to the core but, for others, it could be the almost playful tone of the guitars and the infectious beats or the almost folk-punk tendencies that come through here and there throughout their music. Whatever you latch onto from The Front Bottoms, they are one of those bands that will not go anywhere any time soon, and catching them live will never not be a highlight of your week.

Anyone who made it to the show on Wednesday was given a huge treat. The band played three tracks and then jumped into a whole album playthrough of their 2011 self-titled release. Personally, this is one of my favorite albums of the band so I’m really not exaggerating when I say that this was a treat. Instead of just playing the album and then leaving the stage only to come back for a short encore, the band wasn’t messing around and continued to play six additional songs before disappearing from the stage. Still not enough for the audience who was left pleading for me, the band came back out to perform a final three-song encore. Twenty-four tracks were performed on Wednesday night and each one was as perfect as the last leaving the audience with a perfectly curated setlist that spans the career of this truly monumental band.

Much like when Oso Oso was performing, there was an undeniable sense of heart that radiated off of the stage and into the audience and the entire crowd was eating it up. With people jumping up and down while screaming along to every word, the connection between fan and band when it comes to The Front Bottoms is quite clear and something that you don’t get to experience every day making last night a stand-out show in a string of amazing concerts lately.

Line Up:

Sydney Sprague

Oso Oso

The Front Bottoms

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 25

Crowd Surfers: 4 Counted

Mosh-ability: 7 out of 10

Sausage-Fest Meter: 5 out of 10

Stage Divers: None

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $4 worth (but it was me who spilled it)