New Found Glory – Live (June 1st, 2013)

A funny thing happened on the way to the Rickshaw Theatre last night as an act as simple as turning a corner changed the entire vibe of the evening.

Catching up with a friend over cold beers (and accidentally missing Living With Lions), we talked music and good times; she told me about the dozen times she’d seen New Found Glory and I lamented over the fact that it had been a decade since seeing them at Warped Tour.  It was a nice, cozy evening and we walked towards The Rickshaw Theatre and things exploded.

Turning onto East Hastings Avenue, fans of every walks of life smoked and talked around the venue. The excitement was palpable and the vibe was unexplainable – a stark contrast from two friends sharing a beer.

Never has turning a corner created such excitement, but with each passing minute, the energy grew until the moment the Floridian five piece hit the stage and the crowd erupted.  Playing their 2002 album, Sticks and Stones, in its entirety, New Found Glory immediately whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

Ian Grushka hit the stage with his classic shirtless beer belly. Chad Gilbert enticed the crowd, egging on cheers and leading the on stage banter. Steve Klein kept it slick on the second guitar while  Cyrus Bolooki maintained the rhythm highlighted by a wall of spotlights behind.  Last, but not least, frontman Jordan Pudnik – decked out in the classic skate punk attire that he popularized at the turn of the century – jumped around, climbed the speakers and let the crowd sing as often as he did.

Despite being more than a decade old, Sticks and Stones still rings true and everyone knew every word – for the hit singles like My Friends Over You, Something I Call Personality and Head on Collision and the smaller gems like The Great Houdini and The Story So Far.  Leaving the stage after the thirty minute set, they quickly came back for an encore with a selection from their other six albums performing Dressed To Kill, Hit Or Miss, Don’t Let Her Pull You Down, All Downhill From Here, Tip Of The Icerberg and a cover of Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop among others.

Performing for just over an hour, New Found Glory were in top form. Never had I seen The Rickshaw erupt like that as everyone danced, sang and ran around in every corner of the venue. Crowd surfers flew and a circle pit ran through the evening, people sang arm in arm and nobody left without a gleam of sweat covering them.

It had been a decade long wait, but New Found Glory made the wait worth it – as the payoff was more than I ever imagined it could be.