New Found Glory Returns

My first concert experience was when my friends and I attended Surfest in 2004. It was a concert festival that featured popular bands such as Rise Against, Yellowcard and New Found Glory. New Found Glory was the last band to play their set. It would have been my first time seeing the band live. Just when the band was about to make their dramatic entrance on stage, one of my friends was not feeling well due to the weather (only in Hawaii that there is some degree of humity in December). Because of that, we had to exit Kualoa Ranch. Good news was that we beat the traffic heading out and my friend was feeling better once we left. The bad news, however, was that I, as well as my other friends missed out on seeing New Found Glory for the first time.

But on March 9, 2011, New Found Glory made their return back to the island of Oahu. It was another chance for me to experience something that I missed out on 7 years ago.

The lights dimmed and the first thing you hear coming out from the speakers is the epic theme from the movie, Chariots of Fire. Suddenly, the New Found Glory, donning their very own personalized basketball uniforms, stormed the stage and got the crowd jumping with their song “Understatement”. The energy did not stopped there as the band continued to play many favorites such as “All Downhill From Here”, “Head On Collision”, “My Friends Over You”, “Hit or Miss” and over course, their rendition of Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me”. One of the highlights of the night was hearing my favorite song “Dressed To Kill” live. It was a bittersweet moment for me because it was that particular song (and Rachael Leigh Cook) that made me a fan for the rest of my life.

The most well kept secret of the night (except for those who are active on Twitter) was located backstage. Hayley Williams, frontwoman of the band Paramore and girlfriend of NFG guitartist Chad Gilbert was present that night. She was there in honor of her boyfriend’s birthday. Jordan Pundnik and the rest of the crew took a moment to do a birthday sing-a-long with the crowd for their long time friend and bandmate. It was a very touching moment and it really shows that these guys are more than just a bunch of guys with a common interest in music, but best friends. It’s a testament of these guys’ longevity as a band. Don’t be surprised if you see these guys in their 60’s still rocking out and playing shows.

The feeling of finally seeing one of my favorite bands play live and being able to sing every single song is something that I will never forget. It was bittersweet and I hope that it doesn’t take me another 7 years to see these guys again.

All photos were taken by Melissa Kumano of Bamp Project. You can follow her Twitter and look up more of her work here.