Probably UK gig of the year, this one. Says who? Well, that is according to our man with the camera tonight Liam Battersby, who has adored this band since he was a 15-year old watching the Kerrang! TV channel and buying all their records.
Him and his mate James, potty about the band and eventually getting to see them in London when he was 16. That gig memorable for the one hour power cut half way through the show, and when the band did come back on stage to finish the full set, it meant Liam and his pal had missed the last tube home and were stranded in the big smoke; parents not impressed with late night SOS calls!
So when this UK tour was announced, the band’s first headline tour here for eight years, Liam was giddy as a kipper [where did that saying come from – do kippers get giddy] and “begged” the editor to let him to cover their Bournemouth gig – the penultimate show of this seven-date tour and 15 years since the Floridian band were last in this city.
New Found Glory formed in 1997, and the band’s line-up is singer Jordan Pundik, guitarist Chad Gilbert, Ian Grushka on bass and Cyrus Bolooki on drums.
But tonight and on this tour, Chad is absent as he is back in the States having treatment for another bout of cancer. Jordan asking the crowd to say hi to Chad on Instagram “as he misses you all.”
Get well soon Chad.
So the stand-in for Chad on guitar and backing vocals is Dan O’Connor from Four Year Strong. NFG are also joined by Dave Knox on keyboards and guitar from one of the two support bands, Real Friends.
The tour opened in Birmingham on 10th October and called in to Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, here in Bournemouth at the lovely 1800 capacity 02 Academy, and closing in London at Brixton’s 02 Academy tonight [Saturday 18th October].
New Found Glory whetted fans’ appetites in May this year when they played both of the Slam Dunk Festivals in the UK – Hatfield and Leeds – and a one-nighter at a small club in Brighton prior to joining The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World on the road in the US for an extensive summer tour.
In the last 28 years, New Found Glory have scored gold and platinum records with 2000’s “New Found Glory”, 2002’s “Sticks & Stones”, and 2004’s “Catalyst”, of their 11 studio albums.
At 9.30pm, the headliners hit the stage to a roar that probably rattled windows a few miles down the coast; which was some three-and-a-half hours after the fans began to queue outside the venue.
Just under sold out, so there was decent space left for the mosh pits to form in this beautiful 1800-capacity venue.
Setlist
Something I Call Personality
Hit or Miss
Head On Collision
Truck Stop Blues
All Downhill From Here
Sonny
Let It Go
Truth of My Youth
Anthem for the Unwanted
100%
Failure’s Not Flattering
Happy Being Miserable
Dressed to Kill
Laugh It Off
Vicious Love
Kiss Me
Greatest of All Time
Hold My Hand
Understatement
Encore:
Intro
My Friends Over You
Security expecting crowd surfing tonight as they briefed the snappers in the pit – yep, that surfing did indeed happen throughout the gig – and a warning about the confetti canons going off for the last song of the encore, “My Friends Over You”. Taken by surprise when they went off in second song, “Hit and Miss”. [See the photo top of the page for that scene].
From a 19-song main set plus the two-song encore, they opened with “Something I Call Personality” from the “Sticks and Stones” album, and this crowd was theirs from the first few bars. “Hit or Miss” with the confetti eruption and “Head on Collision” kept the energy high and the volume higher.
The set offered up favourites, deep cuts, and a couple of covers: “Let It Go” the Kristen Anderson‐Lopez and Robert Lopez-penned ballad for the hit movie “Frozen”, and “Kiss Me”, the Sixpence None the Richer cover.
Yes, you read that right; New Found Glory did cover the biggest song from Frozen in their set. It ain’t no parody either…
Fans got to hear a new song, “100%” taken from their imminent new album “Listen Up” due in February 2026. The band had to pause before this new song to get the snare drum mended, Jordan telling the fans, “because the crowd are so crazy, he’s – Cyrus – having to play louder to play over you and the snare broke!”
Jordan gave a “thankyou” shout out to anyone who had bought the album “Catalyst” when it came out 20 years ago, and “anyone who had it on their My Space page or downloaded it from Limewire.”
Liam may well be proven correct for me too: quite possibly it is the gig of the year… There is only one single thing that could have made this amazing gig even better: Chad being back on guitar having kicked cancer’s arse for a second time.
The Glory really is all yours – and Jordan’s and Ian’s and Cyrus’. See all four of you asap…
- Opening the night were New York’s KOYO who formed five years ago from the hardcore scene with debut EP “Painting Words”. Joey Chiaramonte’s vocals could wake the dead. Good start to the triple bill and a band worth catching in their own right.
KOYO
- Illinois outfit Real Friends were next up, the audience singing along from first song, with singer Cody Muraro spending little time on stage before jumping into the pit, over the barrier and crowd surfing the fans who loved it, as did the snappers.
REAL FRIENDS
