The Front Bottoms: 10 Years of Back On Top Tour in Raleigh, NC

The Front Bottoms brought the anniversary tour for their celebrated album “Back On Top” to The Ritz in Raleigh, North Carolina and performed to an ecstatic sold out crowd. Released in 2015, the “Back On Top” record was The Front Bottom’s first release under the Fueled By Ramen record label that the band is still currently signed to today. The album is credited as a large step into commercial success for the band and continued their growth with their existing and new fans alike.

Opening the evening to an already energetic audience, was the Canadian all-girl punk rock band, NOBRO. As we all know, it is the opening band’s responsibility to “warm up” the crowd for the headliner and these ladies did not disappoint! The band came out on stage to a swarm of cheers and applause and immediately began a hard-hitting set fueled by powerful vocals and non-stop adrenaline. The energy brought to the venue by NOBRO was matched only by the screaming audience, especially those lining the barricade at the front of the stage. Judging by the looks on those concert-goers faces, I believe they found a new favorite band that night.

Once NOBRO’s time on stage came to an end and their instruments were taken into the wings, it was time for The Front Bottoms to start a musical journey that the Carolina audience would never forget. As the lights went dark across the stage, the unmistakeable beginning of the opening track of “Back On Top” began to play. Once a member of the audience yelled out, “It’s motorcycle!”, it was as if the band was summoned to the stage and they went straight into the hit song, as every voice in the room joined in with lead singer Brian Sella. From this point on, every voice of every audience member sang back every word of every song. The band and the crowd both reached an emotional high where eyes were teary, hands were in the air and feet were dancing.

The Front Bottoms and NOBRO have only a few more dates of this current tour, which will be ending at Champagne Jam in Philadelphia. However, if you missed a chance to catch these artists on this tour, do yourself a favor and put it in your plans for 2026 to see them!