The crowd at Bottom of the Hill last night was overwhelmingly dude, with just a spattering of female support.  It’s been twelve years since Far released their critically acclaimed second album, Water and Solutions, but the nostalgia for the emotive (though never weepy), post-hardcore album was very, very present. Last night’s show wasn’t just a reunion for the band; it was a reunion for the fans, some of whom have been waiting like, a decade to be in the same room with the Sacramento natives.  Case in point: Matranga breaking mid-song to belt out his own rendition of Beyonce’s “Halo,” an improvisation that provoked sporadic hoots and hollers from the few girls in the room.

The set began like many of their songs do: with softer, more melodic beginnings that gradually ease into heavier, head-bang-ier crescendos––songs like “I Like It” and “Water and Solutions” start out deceptively mellow before building to the climax where they––Far, and we––the crowd are all, in unison, shouting out lyrics like we’re alone in front of our mirrors, hairbrush in hand. Favorites like “Mother Mary” were well-placed, coming in second-to-last in the encore––an encore, I might add, that was staged by the charming Matranga, who asked that we just pretend that they left the stage, just like they’d pretend that we tirelessly begged and wailed for their return. Who’s anyone kidding, right? We totally would have wailed.