New Found Glory – Live in Las Vegas (06/15/18)

In high school, the local bowling alley was one of the coolest places to hang out. Deep fried foods and the lack of parental supervision made it everyone’s favorite spot on Friday and Saturday nights. Most of the people there didn’t even want to bowl – they were just interested in ogling the opposite sex and occasionally playing Cruisin’ USA. Once most of us hit legal drinking age, we found new, more exciting places to the spend our nights. Still, the bowling alley’s haunting musk of disinfectant spray and pheromones will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Pop-punk is the musical equivalent to that a bowling alley scene – something I loved in high school, grew out of by college, but still reminisce about from time to time. Thus, it’s poetic that I recently spent a Friday night catching the genre’s poster child, New Found Glory, at a bowling alley. Too be fair, this particular alley was far nicer than any of the ones I frequented in my teens. Not only was it clean and trendy, but it sat just steps away from the Vegas strip. Still, Brooklyn Bowl at the Linq perfectly captured the charm of those old alleys and the vibe aligned nicely with the nostalgia of NFG.

Moments before the band hit the stage, I had a surprising sense of fear. This was I group I saw a half-dozen times back-in-the-day, each one of those gigs a fond memory in my musical upbringing. What if they weren’t as good as I remembered? It took less than 30 seconds for my fears to be put to rest.

Seeing New Found Glory is witnessing pop-punk perfection; an intoxicating mix of high-energy enthusiasm and infectious choruses that has you singing along every step of the way. This night in Vegas was no exception, though I was still taken back by how well the songs resonated long after I discovered them. Singing along to their a classic hit “All Downhill From Here”? Ok, that’s to be expected. And any human on Earth would get pumped for their cover of “Eye of the Tiger”. But how do I remember the words to “Truth of my Youth” and “Sonny”? It’s just further proof of the band’s long-term, and somewhat underrated staying power.

There’s a reason New Found Glory continue to sell out clubs across the country. Their rowdy live show has been fine honed over the course of their 21 year career. But, more than anything, their music makes you feel good. It’s exciting and gratifying. It gets you throwing your fist in the air with a smile on your face. And, for me, on this night at least, it momentarily took me back to back to my younger years – before I knew about student debt, corrupt politicians, or any of the other “adult” issues that continually fill up my time.

Maybe I should hang out at bowling alleys more often.