New Found Glory: Pop-Punk Icons or Famous Movie Stars?

Last updated on June 24th, 2019 at 09:05 am

Last night, Florida-based pop-punk staples New Found Glory were welcomed warmly to Varsity Theater for a riveting performance of their From The Screen To Your Stereo To Your Town tour.

After sixteen years without radio play, the band still managed to effortlessly sell out the show, making it a night that was highly anticipated by many long-term fans.

Circle Pits and Punchin’ Nazis

Kicking off the night was probably one of the coolest bands I’ve ever seen, Doll Skin.

I don’t want to be the journalist who freaks out about an all-women pop-punk band in the scene, but as a woman who is highly involved in it, I’ll be the first to tell you that the representation is dire. Also, they totally kick butt at what they do.

The energy these women bring to the stage is incredible, I loved watching their endless movement and the facial expressions they had while performing.

My favorite part of the night is when frontwoman Sydney Dolezal demanded the crowd started a circle pit, and then rushed the pit herself, singing an entire song while running around inside it. Excuse me, what? How much cooler can a person get?

They finished by singing a song about punching Nazis in the face. Which now, is the only way to end a set. I’m sold.

I Wanna Hear You Excited

I overheard plenty of people in the crowd expressing confusion about who The Early November was before the show started. So, I’ll assume that my readers at home are lost as well and will take the time to catch you up.

I was big into The Early November in high school, especially the song “I Want To Hear You Sad.” They’re a solid early pop-punk band fronted by Arthur “Ace” Enders, who has a phenomenal voice.

Ace Enders had a solo project for a while where he’d include “a million different people” and make covers. My favorite, and probably the most notable is “Bittersweet Symphony.”

I was pleased to find that the band sounds incredible live and all my years of waiting to see them in concert was totally worth it.

Real Development

Real Friends is one of those bands that I always kind of put on the back burner but still get excited about when I see live. I also feel like each time I’ve seen them live they’ve gotten better.

The last time I covered them, they played at The Garage in support of their newest album Composure. Last night they primarily played songs off of that album, which I was definitely happy about since, in comparison to their previous releases, Composure holds much more upbeat and melodically sound pieces.

The energy was up to speed and the band interacted with the crowd throughout the entire set. At one point, frontman Dan Lambton asked whoever had the power to turn on the disco ball placed up above the center of the venue to do so, and was pleased when they obliged.

Real Friends are a band that just keep getting better.

Energetic is an Understatement

New Found Glory came out with a bang and wasted no time jumping into their theme. When it came to going over the top, the band didn’t hold back at all.

What movie-themed concert would be complete without a ticket stand, popcorn machine, and the classic old-school countdown featured at every drive-in theater? I could picture the backflipping hotdog as the minutes passed and we grew closer to the performance.

Since the tour was focused primarily on New Found Glory’s newest release, From The Screen To Your Stereo 3, it was expected that many of those covers would be played.

This held true when frontman Jordan Pundik came out in an American flag-themed robe (did someone say, Rocky III?) as the band broke into their cover of “Eye of the Tiger” to kick off the night.

My favorite part of their performance was their insistence on dressing up to fit the theme of each movie or song. Whether it meant dressing up as Elsa from Frozen or Marty McFly from Back to the Future, Pudnik was entirely committed.

The night featured an incredibly diverse setlist, including basically every song I did not expect New Found Glory to play, like “Sonny,” “Summer Fling, Don’t Mean A Thing,” and their cover of “Kiss Me.”

At one point, Pudnik came out dressed as one of the people from The Greatest Showman, complete with top-hat and whip, as he began singing their cover of “This Is Me.” I’ve never seen the movie, but if anything were to convince me to watch it, it would be this exact moment.

Fans were also surprised to see William Ryan Key, former Yellowcard vocalist, taking the stage throughout the night as he played guitar for New Found Glory – talk about a supergroup!

My favorite part of the night was when the band took the time to recognize how incredibly inconsiderate it would be to hold a movie-themed concert without providing popcorn, and then proceeded to throw freshly popped bags out into the audience. Guitarist, Chad Gilbert, even managed to throw a bag from the stage all the way up to the balcony!

The band announced that after the tour they planned to hit the studio to record their tenth full-length studio album, then expressed their gratitude for having such life-long dedicated fans to support them along the way.

The guys in New Found Glory effortlessly proved why they have earned their place as a long-time favorite within the pop-punk scene. Despite their seniority, the band provided energy like no other and an unmatched thankfulness for their supporters.

I look forward to hearing what I’m certain will be yet another hit in their discography, and to seeing New Found Glory again in the future.

Like many other New Found Glory fans, I’d pick seeing these guys over hanging out with my friends any day.

New Found Glory Setlist:

1. Eye of the Tiger
2. Understatement
3. Your Jokes Aren’t Funny
4. Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me)
5. All Downhill From Here
6. Summer Fling, Don’t Mean a Thing
7. Sucker
8. Truth of My Youth
9. Let it Go
10. Selfless
11. King of Wishful Thinking
12. Sincerely Me
13. Sonny
14. This is Me
15. Head on Collision
16. It’s Not Your Fault
17. Kiss Me
18. Hit or Miss
19. The Power of Love
20. The Story So Far
21. My Friends Over You