Gig

New Found Glory - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 11th August @ Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Aug 13, 2017

7 min read

New Found Glory
The Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
11th August, 2017
Supported by Stand Atlantic

Let me set the scene; A 15 year old girl, grandfather in tow, stands barrier at her first festival. Wide eyed, she stares in awe as this band; this group of historical pop-punk legends, present the beauty of a subculture within the short time of a festival set.

New Found Glory have always had a talent for that. Their longevity within the realm of pop-punk has never really been questioned and this tour solidifies that.

Yet once more, 2017 brings another anniversary; 20 Years of New Found Glory, gloriously celebrated through the performance of fan-favourite albums. The night promised fun, nostalgia and the injury of one's vocal chords… and oh boy, did they deliver!

Despite the all ages nature of the event, the venue was filled with 90% pop punk veterans (a couple in cargo shorts even). That kind of environment can often make the job of support quite hard. This however was not the case for, Sydney natives, Stand Atlantic, whose natural chemistry and upbeat energy, made for the perfect warm-up. Through a setlist combination of classic bangers such as 'Wasteland' (a personal favourite) and recent releases such as 'Mess I Made' coming off the announcement of their recent signing with Rude Records, the 4-piece elicit a bright vibe within the audience. A response only increased by a stellar rendition of Owl City’s 'Firefly' front-woman Bonnie Fraser prefacing with “If you haven’t heard this song, you've probably seen a meme about it”. The band ending with new single and evidently fan-favorite 'Coffee at Midnight'. Talk about ending with a bang! They definitely proved exactly why they were put on this tour and left the stage with plenty of new fans in tow.

The moment the boys ran on stage, it went off. I have seen bands a quarter of their age have less energy than these guys; frontman Jordan Pundik, through the opening song, literally just started running laps as if he actually needed to burn energy before they even started. It's from that moment though that you realize why this band is incredibly special to so many people; from Pundiks countless high fives to Ian Grushkas endless amount of posing for photos and even Chad Gilbert making sure the odd crowd surfer gets his shoe back. The band values it's fans as much as the fans value the band. This energy is somehow sustained by both band and audience through a 2 PAGE SET!

Pundik's stage presence is genuinely captivating, and every eye in the room follows him as he hammers through absolute banger 'Truth Of My Youth', classic hit 'Don’t Let This Be The End', and energetic punk masterpiece 'Truck Stop Blues'.

The banter that prefaced angst anthem 'At Least I’m Known For Something' held the charm of a band who have been friends for years, swearing if they’d known they were going to have to do this, they would have made Catalyst shorter. 'Don’t Let Her Pull You Down' followed, getting the entire room off their feet and singing their absolute hearts out. By this point everyone around me is dripping with sweat, and mostly drunk. The heat rising by the minute.

The glorious 'This Isn’t You' thankfully made the cut (a rare occurrence); garnered the kind of reception one would come to expect from the full venue, smiling faces and just general excitement to be hearing tracks no one thought they’d hear live again. This was only a warm up for what was to come, though : The beautifully dramatic 'Over The Head, Below The Knees' and appropriately followed 'I’ll Never Love Again' and 'I’d Kill To Fall Asleep' seemed to strike a chord with the audience. The bands talent of relatability shining through in passionate camaraderie.

“It's Ironic that we just acted like we’re super angry before playing a love song” opens personal favorite and mild tear-jerker 'I Don’t Wanna Know', the audience impressively harmonizing through the nostalgic tears and swaying.

The rest of the set was filled with more songs from the two converted albums, including '47', 'No News Is Good News', 'Heartless At Best' and 'Doubt Full, the band's stage presence continuing to thoroughly entertain even those who were showing potential signs of exhaustion.

Proving their not just nostalgia, they followed with 'Happy Being Miserable' from their new record Makes Me Sick, eliciting an equally excited response even from those who may have not known every word.

Following this we had another slew of bangers; 'Such A Mess', 'This Disaster' and 'Listen To Your Friends'. The crowd finding the energy to start a new wave of crowd surfers and a hell of a lot of dancing.

The pre-encore consisted of everyone collectively catching their breath because we all knew what was coming; starting with cathartic masterpieces 'Ending In Tragedy' (Ironic) and 'Tangled Up'. The audience moshing like a supermarket in an apocalypse except with love instead of hunger.

Then it happened…

'All Downhill From Here' is undoubtedly one of the most iconic songs of the last 20 years, and my god did it show. When the opening notes of this song rang out, the vibe transcended to a whole other level of craziness, the crowd using up what was left of their vocal chords in order to scream every last word. The entire night building up to this beautiful climax. It wasn’t anything fancy; no streamers or confetti canons but fuck did it mean something to everyone in that room.

New Found Glory are one of those bands that just mean something. Their kind nature combined with their extreme talent makes it impossible not to love them. It's very clear why they hold a spot as an icon of the subculture and it was an honor to witness them in action once more. Defend Pop-Punk!

NFG frontman Jordan Pundik featured on our podcast Wall of Sound: Up Against The Wall last week, check the episode out here

Written and shot by Bree Vane. Find her on Facebook and Instagram
Please credit Wall of Sound and Bree Vane if you repost.

Stand Atlantic

New Found Glory