North Jersey's Own: The Front Bottoms Bring Their Champagne Jam Holiday Tradition to The Fillmore

2025 marks 11 years of the holiday shows from Jersey, Philly, to Jersey — and back to Philly again; but also 10 years of the band’s fan-favorite record, “Back On Top.”

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Champagne Jam operates like a mini-festival experience, and on day one, fans had the choice to see main stage artists at The Fillmore or acts at the Brooklyn Bowl right next door, both ultimately leading up to The Front Bottoms’ headlining performance.

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From The Fillmore, the folkier Alex Orange Drink, also known as Alex Zarou Levine, notably the bassist of the band Bright Eyes, opened the gig. His energy was contagious, and the full band had a nice, rich sound ready for the big stage.

Even as an opener, Levine didn’t waste his time or his platform when it came to making a statement.

“F*ck ICE, and this embarrassment of an administration,” Levine said on stage in between songs.

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It was a heck of a year for Levine, battling cancer and dropping five full-length albums during, all to help get through it, and this night in part was a celebration of that.

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Levine and his band closed the night with a cover of a song by The So So Glos, another project of Levine’s that sees him as the lead singer. It was a Christmas song titled ‘This Could Be Christmas.’

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Up next was Nate Amos’ project, This Is Lorelei. The New York-based musician works on experimental music in the realm of indie-rock and bedroom-pop. You may have seen his songs dominating end-of-year publications like Rolling Stone or Pitchfork, either under This Is Lorelei or his other project, Water From Your Eyes, with vocalist Rachel Brown.

His set was made up of tracks predominantly from his new album, comprised of remastered re-recordings of his best tracks titled “Holo Boy,” which came out earlier this month. And also “Box for Buddy, Box for Star,” from 2024.

After This Is Lorelei came a surprise, and that was Norwegian comedian Daniel Simonsen, who had the crowd shocked and laughing from his self-deprecating sense of humor and funny accent.

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He went through his greatest hits, finding everything wrong with him and putting it out to the crowd for our amusement, whether it be perceptions of him having autism for others, the embarrassment he feels with a weirdly shaped concave chest, or how awkward he feels in day-to-day conversations.

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It was a quick, 15-minute set, but right after came on the emo/alternative band Balance and Composure, reuniting after their hiatus ended in 2023. 2024 brought a new album produced by Will Yip, and now 2025 sees them touring, writing for fun, and feeling like teens again.

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They certainly brought that energy to the stage, and it was palpable in the crowd as mosh pits began, crowd surfers streamed in for each song, and fans shouted the lyrics. It was a great set comprised of the new and the old.

After a few hours of live music and entertainment at this point, The Fillmore filled to the brim as fans came up from the Brooklyn Bowl to see what everyone’s been waiting for — The Front Bottoms.

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They came out in business professional attire, in full suits and ties, alongside popping champagne bottles that made for a picture-perfect moment.

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They opened the set playing the entirety of the album “Back on Top” in its tracklist order, as these Champagne Jam dates were still counted on the 10 years of “Back on Top” tour they were riding off of.

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Between tracks, the band had a casual competition among themselves to see who could finish their bottle of champagne first, and for night one, frontman Brian Sella took the win.

After breezing through an entire album, they played “Joanie” and “Tighten Up” off the 2016 single “Needy When I’m Needy,” and then headed off-stage.

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Having played just 14 songs at this point, they didn’t have anyone fooled that they were leaving, but the band took a break at their bar on stage as the song “Champagne Jam” by the Atlanta Rhythm Section played over the speakers.

“You really think we’d leave this early on a Friday night?” Sella said as the band came back out.

They came out again for what would be a 10-song encore in casual attire, with Sella reppin’ a Phillies jersey numbered “69” with his name on the back that had the crowd going nuts.

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They opened again with “Outlook,” a power-pop anthem from their latest record, “You Are Who You Hang Out With” from 2023.

But for the most part, this encore was comprised of the band’s greatest hits, which had their diehard fans going crazy for each song like it was the last. They played three tracks off their debut self-titled album and three off the 2013 “Talon of the Hawk.”

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At one point, they had fans vote over the songs about Brian’s dad or his first wife, which were “Father” or “Lone Star,” and after loud shouted requests on both sides, they decided to play both.

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Most notable from this show was the band bringing back the track “I Think Your Nose Is Bleeding,” one they haven’t played since 2018. It’s a track that dates back to the band’s unreleased catalog pre-2011, which has since been re-recorded.

At 24 songs, the band finally closed the show with the hit “Twin Size Mattress,” bringing together new and old generation fans of The Front Bottoms to sing along to every word to end the night.

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The Front Bottoms then went on again to play just as long the second night of Champagne Jam.  

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A real holiday treat.