I'm at the Forum, in London (where it seems I'll have to take up residency because everyone and their nan is playing there in the near future), and tonight, The Front Bottoms are headlining.

They are supported by Londoners Apologies, I Have None. So, yes, I have seen them once five years ago (they were supporting Young Guns at the Hatfield Forum), but you can't say I'm familiar with them. When I saw their name on the line up, my mind was taken back to that evening at the University, but, quite frankly, I don't remember it. Clean slate for the English, then.

Let me tell you, Apologies, I Have None sweat early to mid-noughties, angst, emo, pop-punk and songs about girls who have betrayed them, cheated and lied - the works. I'm a little bit disconcerted by the lyrics at times (angry lines like "She told me that she fucked him and I thought I can't believe this, did she not know that I loved her? I'm going to smash that bitch's face in" in 2012's The 26 make Parker Cannon sound like a loving puppy), but overall, the Londoners deliver a really good performance. They're energetic enough to make the crowd participate, and they have enough fans scattered around here and there to make their songs sound like anthems. 

Next up is Gnarwolves. Once again, I'm only loosely familiar with the Brighton lot. I've seen them play Download in 2015 on my friend's recommendation and I'd very much enjoyed it, despite feeling extremely old when I was the only one in our group who knew who Hundred Reasons were when the band mentioned being fans. I had yet to see them again, and, let me tell you, they were worth the wait.

Their songs have the space to become anthems (and they seem to be for some, as the trio has a fair share of fans around the room and singalongs are easily heard), and Gnarwolves make it look easy to get everyone on board. The lyrics are relatable (anything about being miserable sticks with me like a newspaper to a wet dog, these days), and the melodies are incredibly catchy, "I'm going to stay stuck in your head for the forseeable future" material. I don't mean to sound like Simon Cowell here, but that's a big, fat yes from me. I need more Gnarwolves in my life.

I was adamant - I would not cry. It's The Front Bottoms, for Jesus Christ's sake. They're the band with the worst name ever, the band who puts a smile so big on my face my jaw aches, the band who makes me want to dance around in a field with my friends and a beverage of the alcoholic kind. Yet, before they walked on stage, I was in tears. Funny what a disastrous mental health situation does.

It didn't last long, though. As soon as the first notes of opener Skeleton chimed in, and as soon as its words were echoed by over a thousand people as one, I had wiped the little buggers away and was smiling from ear to ear. Some might say this band makes me a happier person. I might agree.

The Americans are here to promote their latest album, the excellent Back on Top, as well as their 2016 EP, Needy When I'm Needy (raise your hand if you relate to that title on a spiritual level). Yet, it feels like a greatest hits set from start to finish. Every word sang by frontman Brian Sella is echoed by every breathing soul in the building. Old stuff, new stuff, it doesn't matter - every song is everyone's favourite song. If I didn't know who they were, I'd be smiling at the side, admiring their ability to bring everyone together, desperately wanting to join in.

Not tonight.

Tonight, I'm too busy joining in, singing along at the top of my lungs, singing like my life depends on it, singing like it's the last thing I'll ever do. I'm too busy dancing like an idiot, too busy having fun, too busy smiling, too busy breathing a little bit. The taking it all in and watching from the side lines will have to wait for another day. 

Tonight, I'm living.

On stage, I can see a band delighted to be here, delighted to be sharing its songs with everyone in the audience - and looking slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people present in the room. I can also see disco balls, house lamps and a couch, and boy, I am all over it. In February, they had had giant inflatable letters and bubble cannons and tonight, they have made their stage look like a house party - a house party for the socially awkward kids who don't exactly know what they're doing or where they're going, of course.

That's what I love so much about The Front Bottoms.

Their songs talk about being lonely, feeling abandoned, being scared, going through a break-up, being self-conscious, having low self-esteem, feeling like you're out of someone's league, not knowing how to interact with other people, missing someone who clearly hasn't missed you one bit, having insecurities, being unsure about the future. Their lyrics easily speak to the minds of the anxious, the scared, the depressed.

They do it in such a cheerful, upbeat way that the anxiety riddled people like myself instantly feel better and less alone.

That stage setting, well... It's very appropriate, it seems.

A house party for the awkward.

Sign me up.

That is why your local emo doesn't cry in front of them - because they surreptitiously mend the pain, just for a while, and singing along to what sounds like the happiest tune on Earth doesn't require my tears. It just needs me to sing along at the top of my voice and smile a whole lot.

I think The Front Bottoms just nailed the party of the years - and I'm glad I have been a part of it.