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If you enjoy pop-punk, chances are you’ve heard of New Found Glory. If you’re an avid fan of pop-punk, chances are you’ve experienced New Found Glory. And if you haven’t, where the hell have you been for the last 20 years? Hitting a major milestone in their musical career, the guys of NFG knew they needed to do something huge; 20 years, 6 full length albums, [a minimum of] 2 dates per city & countless memories. They brought out pop-punk newbies, Trash Boat, along for this monumental tour. I hit up the New York dates at the famous Irving Plaza to make for an unforgettable weekend.
When it comes to opening for a tour as anticipated as this one, there’s quite a bit of pressure from starting artists to ensure they get the crowd ready for the headliner. Hailing out of the U.K., Trash Boat came ready for the challenge. Night one the guys came out ready to throw down, complete with all the leaps, jumps & foot stomps. With a sound similar to that of The Story So Far & Neck Deep, the crowd was quick to get with it.
When it comes to tours like this, the ones who really benefit (besides the fans), are new and known openers. When you only have one night to appeal to a crowd of fresh faces, it’s [usually] not until the end of your set where people start to get into it. However, Trash Boat was gifted with 2 nights, back to back, to not only gain new fans but heighten the experience as a whole. Night 1 was like a practice run (that went amazing by the way), but when it was time for night 2 you could see and feel their confidence had jumped astronomically. The mass majority of the crowd had been there for night 1 which means they now had time to go home, learn the songs, and tell their friends who couldn’t make it for the first night about this new pop-punk hit. Trash Boat rocked it the first night but killed it the second night, for that they should be more than happy with their performance.
When you think of Pop-Punk legends, New Found Glory better pop into your head real quick. For 20 years these guys have put out hits like, My Friends Over You, Head On Collision, Such a Mess, All Downhill From Here, Hit or Miss and so many more that if I list them all I’d just be pasting the track lists.
Night one consisted of all the tracks from both Sticks & Stones and Coming Home. One of the best things the guys did was mix up the order in which the tracks were preformed. Doing that heightened the excitement throughout the night, keeping fans guessing as to which song was coming next. The night came to a pause with the last song ending in confetti, after the hall was cleared out, fans were checked back in to enjoy a sold out Emo Night featuring New Found Glory. The guys got wild and crazy on stage while they bumped their favorite tracks into the late hours of the night.
Night 2 brought us Catalyst and Self Titled, keeping with the same rhythm as the first night with mixing up the tracks from the two albums. Having both nights filled with gratitude from both fans and NFG. New Found Glory is made up of the most down to earth, humble guys who know that at any moment anything can happen that could end their career. They never stop thinking about their fans and what they could do to show how grateful they are for all the support over the last 20 years. So for this tour the guys decided to do something special in anticipation of their upcoming album that comes out April 26; they are currently selling a shirt that says “NFG makes me sick” and with the purchase of that tee you get a limited edition laminate that gives you access to the new album the moment it drops. So if you can, make sure to pick up the special edition tee.
After having another unforgettable night end in confetti, I ran into Cyrus outside the venue (who is always so awesome to talk to) so of course I had to pick his brain a bit about the tour. I was curious to know how exactly the guys decided what albums to play each night.
Cyrus– “We made sure to always have Sticks & Stones, Catalyst or Self Titled [on each of the 2 nights]. You gotta make sure each night had the “big ones”. Yea, we could have done a night with Coming Home & Nothing Gold Can Stay, but they don’t have My Friends Over You or All Down Hill From Here. So if you look at like the Boston dates, there wasn’t originally supposed to be 3 shows. So you’ll notice some of the albums over lap. We did that because the first two nights sold out so fast, we wanted to make sure people would get a chance to see their favorite songs.”
At that point a local fan chimed in with the wondering of what his [Cryus’s] favorite album was.
Cyrus– “Asking me to pick [a favorite album] is like asking me to pick a favorite kid. I mean I only have one [kid] so that’s easy haha. But if I had to choose it would be Catalyst. [Catalyst] was the first record we had record label money [backing us] and we could do what we wanted that we couldn’t try before. For the other [albums] we saved up the money ourselves and went to local recording studios, usually late at night cause it was cheaper. Actually, no one really knows this, for Catalyst I was in the big room recording all my drum parts but when we started recording Failure’s Not Flattering, it had a very Linda Carlyle vibe, so we moved my drum kit into a small side room because that’s what they did in the 80s. We had a guy that makes it all pretty much sound the same but there are some parts where you can hear the slight riffs in tempo and, at least to me, it makes that [track] very special.”
2 nights, 4 albums, so much screaming, countless memories; I’m not gonna bullshit you, it was dope af. New Found Glory are legends in their own right within the pop-punk scene and with their promises of not leaving us anytime soon, we’re holding them too it. I for one am beyond excited to see what they come up with for their 25 and 30 years of Pop-Punk, until that time though catch them on their annual NYC stop of their tours.
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