Page 52 - Black Velvet Issue 95

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NEW FOUND GLORY / ROAM - BIRMINGHAM O2 ACADEMY, 30.09.17
New Found Glory are in the UK for their
anniversary tour, celebrating 20 years of pop
punk. 2-0 years... where did that time go?
Over the years New Found Glory has fea-
tured in Black Velvet numerous times; we
even reviewed their show at the Foundry
here in Birmingham back in 2001. At the time
we noted that, ‘New Found Glory are going
to be a big success…’ While their commercial
success has been a roller coaster ride over
the years, to still be able to fill venues such
as tonight’s Academy and to be able to attract
a new generation of fans, well that’s pretty
darn successful in its own right.
To get the party started, punchy pop punk
is served up by Eastbourne quintet ROAM
and it goes down well with the packed-out
crowd. ROAM’s energy and enthusiasm is
contagious; it doesn’t take long for the audi-
ence to start pogoing along to the up-tempo
songs. ‘Great Heights & Nosedives’ is the
name of their new album; if every show they
play goes as well as this one, there is no
doubt that ROAM will be going higher.
Time flies when you are having fun. It’s
soon time for the main event - New Found
Glory. For each night of the tour, the Floridian
crew are performing the material of two al-
bums, pre-2010, in full. For the Birmingham
crowd it’s ‘Sticks And Stones’ and the self-ti-
tled album. A cheery ‘Happy Anniversary’ ditty
echoes around the room, putting a smile on
everyone’s face. From the very second the
band come bounding onstage, kicking off
with ‘Understatement’, the atmosphere is
electric.
Rather than play the albums front-to-
back, the songs are mixed together which
gives an element of intrigue as to what song
will come next. Whether it’s ‘Better Off Dead’,
‘Sucker’, ‘Head On Collision’, ‘Dressed To
Kill’, ‘Forget My Name’ - each and every song
is greeted with jaunty elation from old and
new fans alike. Unsurprisingly, ‘Hit Or Miss’
receives one of the biggest reactions of the
night, it’s an oldie but it never gets old hearing
it and it still sounds as fresh and exciting as
it did 16 years ago.
Addressing the crowd throughout, gui-
tarist Chad Gilbert and frontman Jordan
Pundik are clearly appreciative of the support
they’ve had as a band from fans over the
years. There is a tongue-in-cheek ‘moment of
silence’ for the older fans, the ones who ac-
tually bought CDs out of their hard-earned
wages, rather than downloading the songs
for free. It’s a jovial sentiment and Gilbert
points out that the band do not mind how
people get hold of their music, “As long as
you come to the shows!” he laughs. When
their shows are so much fun, you wonder
why people who enjoy their music wouldn’t
want to see them live.
It’s been a night filled with clapping,
singing, jumping around and crowd surfing!
With an encore consisting of ‘Ballad For The
Lost Romantics’ and ‘The Story So Far’, the
amount of stamina that both band and crowd
have had until this point is super-impressive.
Then ‘My Friends Over You’ happens; it goes
through the roof, the crowd go insane. The
party to end all parties - roll on New Found
Glory’s 30th.
YYYYY
Penny Gower
Ian Grushka (New Found Glory) Photo By Sam Gower

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