Sep 13

Sep 13 Show Review: New Found Glory Prove Pop Punk's Still Not Dead in Berkeley

New Found Glory
w/ Hot Mulligan, LØLØ
September 11th, 2021
The UC Theatre
Berkeley, CA

Photos and review by Jared Stossel

This past weekend, one of the best bands I’ve had the pleasure of seeing over the years, New Found Glory, made a highly anticipated stop at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, CA for the “Pop Punk’s Still Not Dead” Tour. However, this was one of the many tours that was supposed to take place pre-pandemic, so some things needed to be updated. First things first: Simple Plan (who were supposed to co-headline) dropped off the tour. The original openers dropped off the tour, which led the band to recruit up-and-coming acts Hot Mulligan and LØLØ to open each date. Shortly before the tour was set to kick off, Less Than Jake was added to the co-headlining spot. Except Less Than Jake would not be at the Berkeley show, due a festival commitment.

But here’s the thing: New Found Glory could quite honestly carry a show by themselves if they really needed to. Not to say that the other acts weren’t great; LØLØ brought forth a powerful and flair-filled alt-rock set, while Hot Mulligan proved once again why they’re set to be one of the biggest acts in the genre with a performance that rivaled their headliners. But the second that New Found Glory took the stage for one of the most efficient sets I’ve ever seen (20 songs within an hour), it was like a cannon went off. The Florida-based pop-punk act went headfirst into “Understatement”, “Truth of My Youth”, and a cover of Go West’s “King of Wishful Thinking”.

What followed was a highlight of some of their band’s biggest hits over the last two decades, with tracks like “All Downhill From Here”, “Something I Call Personality”, “Tip of the Iceberg”, “Forget My Name”, and “Hit Or Miss” (a song that guitarist Chad Gilbert noted that the band have played at every single show since 1997). Two other cover songs were played throughout the show: Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me” (which the band have had as a staple in their set for years), and a pop-punk version of “Let It Go” (yes, the one from Frozen). Vocalist Jordan Pundik took the stage dressed as Elsa, complete with wig and blue dress. The encore consisted of “Himalaya” (a newer song from their tenth album, 2020’s Forever and Ever X Infinity), “Head On Collision”, and of course, the sing-along inducing “My Friends Over You”.

New Found Glory consistently manage to sound flawless, cementing them as masters of their craft within this genre. They have an infectious stage presence, one which makes everyone in attendance want to sing along or mosh, whether you can help it or not. As long as a band like New Found Glory is still around, playing shows and making music, pop punk is most certainly not dead.

New Found Glory Setlist
Understatement
Truth of My Youth
King of Wishful Thinking (Go West cover)
Greatest Of All Time
All Downhill From Here
Something I Call Personality
Selfless
Listen To Your Friends
Dressed To Kill
Tip of the Iceberg
Kiss Me (Sixpence None the Richer cover)
Happy Being Miserable
Failure’s Not Flattering
Let It Go (Frozen cover)
Forget My Name
Don’t Let Her Pull You Down
Stay Awhile
Hit or Miss

Encore:
Himalaya
Head on Collision
My Friends Over You