New Found Glory, Hit theLights @ Club Capitol 07/04/10

Sun 11th Apr, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Photos by xDangerousDavex

A sold out crowd saw Club Capitol almost fill to capacity early on in the night. Scenesters and punk worshippers lined the walls of the modest space and already people were pushing their way to the front of the wall of people gathered at the front of the barrier. Although Michigan pop-punk band Fireworks pulled out of the show at the last minute, with no official statements what-so-ever, it didn’t stop the show going on at the allocated times.

Warming-up the stage with their bubbly pop-tastic rhythm and playful synths were North-Western pop-punks Hit the Lights. Starting with the catchy Stay Out, clear long-time fans at the front sung aloud word-for-word pointing their fingers towards the roof. Most were thinking it and it had to come from someone but, without an ounce of regret lead singer Nick Thompson preached his negative views on the Saosin/Fireworks debacle. For those living under a rock for the past few months, Saosin were tagged as a support for this tour but for whatever reason pulled out and were replaced by Fireworks who did not show up for the first stop of the tour. With the nodding of his band members’ heads and the approval of the crowd they broke into another number that sounded exactly like the last, dedicating it to the absent bands and encouraging everyone to give them the middle finger salute throughout the entire song. As douchey as their “I don’t care about anything” attitudes seemed and as lame as the words coming out of their mouths were, their onstage personas were quite entertaining as they flailed about all over the stage not quite knowing where they’d end up. Reciprocating the energy on stage, enthusiastic show-goers crowd surfed their way to the front to high-five Thompson, one lucky lass even ended up with a kiss on the lips whilst being held up by disapproving security guards.

Finishing with Drop the Girl we saw the band give their all with guitarist Omar Zehery standing out with a move that can only be described as “the broken windmill” and mouthing Thompson’s verses in between exaggerated guitar faces. Loving every moment of it, he waved his curly fro anywhere that he could.

As the what-the-fuck introduction of Miley Cyrus’ Party in the U.S.A. started playing over the speakers, confused looks shot from one side of the room to the other but were replaced with chants of, “N.F.G.!” The spotlight raised to the delight of wide-eyed fans as Steve Klein, Ian Grushka, Cyrus Bolooki, Chad Gilbert and Jordan Pundik took their positions on stage. Playing a 21 song strong set New Found Glory started with 2002 single, Something I Call Personality. From the get-go it was like a bomb had gone off and wave-after-wave of musical assault forced the whole room to move. With arms and legs in the air punters made the most of every second, crowd surfing one-after-the-other trying to crash the stage. Next was All Down Hill From Here from 2004’s Catalyst. War raged on as every word Pundik sang was like a challenge to the crowd to sing louder and with every verse the crowd submitted to the hard hitting melodies and cleverly constructed hooks that New Found Glory are known for.

Surprisingly, punk covers of Sixpence None the Richer’s Kiss Me and The Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris made their way into the setlist, in perhaps the least upbeat moments in their whole set. Still, everyone knew these pop hits from the 90’s ensuing a sing-along and a gentler mosh. Towards the end of a pretty steady and solid set of their back catalogue they finished with the newer single Listen to Your Friends. Perhaps a representation of the NFG we see now but, still not losing the feel of their old selves.

Returning to the stage for the ever present “surprise encore”, NFG ripped into Intro (again from Catalyst), the lyrical middle finger to the growing trend of bands taking a backseat to recognised mainstream bands moulded to the image of their predecessors. A blur of motion is how you’d describe the action on stage. Gilbert and Grushka traded places all over the stage, jumping and kicking the air whilst Pundik jumped into the barrier, swarmed by welcoming arms. Not once did they slow down as they drew nearer to the end. If anything, they were gaining momentum, building up to the finale of My Friends Over You.

Photos by xDangerousDavex