Images: Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour feat. New Found Glory November 19th, 2011 at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip

Ten years since helping to launch a new wave of pop punk to the mainstream, New Found Glory finds itself on a tour to prove that Pop Punk’s Not Dead. The sentiment was obviously well-received in Las Vegas, as the tour’s November 19^th stop at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip sold out completely, finding the venue more packed than I have ever seen it before with fans of the subgenre. Vocalist Jordan Pundik seemed more than a little happy about this, and he commented on enjoying the low stage and narrow barrier in contrast to the higher House of Blues Las Vegas stage they normally play. This change in venue seemed to energize the already fantastically spastic band and the closeness to the audience is appropriate for a group that revels so much in crowd interaction.

As proof that the band is still going strong, every lyric from all 5 of the songs played from the recently released Radiosurgey were sung back without missing a beat. My personal favorites of the new bunch played that night were “I’m Not The One,” featuring backing vocals from guitarist Chad Gilbert, who growled each word from the edge of the stage as the crowd followed suit and “Anthem For The Unwanted,” for which a live video was shot during the show. A couple of deeper cuts made it into the setlist, “Dressed to Kill” and “Failure’s Not Flattering,” as well as the appropriately titled “Vegas,” a staple of their live show out here. The band’s 22 song set breezed by, and while it was near perfect, I do have to bemoan the lack of any songs from Coming Home and Nothing Gold Can Stay (minus “Hit or Miss,” which was later rereleased on their self-titled disk). Coming Home in particular is an album that I believe should be embraced more, though I can see the band being weary of pulling those songs out due to the mixed reaction it got upon release. I’m hopeful that future tours will see a few of those songs returning to their set.

New Found Glory’s Epitaph labelmates, Set Your Goals, filled the penultimate spot of the night. The band took the opportunity of being on such a big tour to dig into each of their three full lengths, with tracks from Mutiny, including the title track used to close out their set, receiving the biggest reaction. While they aren’t the only band on the tour that utilizes multiple vocalists, they are the only one whose multiple singers are unencumbered by instruments, giving them free reign over the stage and crowd. Of all the bands on this tour, Set Your Goals arguably has the most hardcore influence present in their music (to be expected from a band who takes their name from a CIV album), so it was probably not a coincidence that the crowd broke into the biggest pit of the night during their set. You could literally feel the floor shift from the weight of the crowd’s excitement during their set, and from the energy and enthusiasm that they exuded from the stage, it’s no surprise.

The Wonder Years has quickly grown into one of my favorite bands and they were who I was most looking forward to seeing. Their set started off spectacularly with the opening track to their latest Suburbia. However, a few songs in, the band completely lost power to their instruments (possibly due to rocking so hard). Vocalist Dan “Soupy” Campbell made the best of things, briefly contemplating a search for acoustics before leading the crowd in an a cappella version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” When the power finally came back on, the band regrettably had to cut their already too short set shorter, ending things with “Hoodie Weather” and “Washington Square Park.” They took what could have been a disastrous situation and turned it into the most fun set of the night, and I appreciate the shout outs to local bands Love It or Leave It (now Bingo) and Last Call.

Man Overboard and This Time Next Year were tasked with kicking the whole night off, and we really couldn’t have asked for better openers on this tour. Kids were still piling in from the long line outside while This Time Next Year was playing, but as soon as their tickets were scanned and their IDs inspected, they were greeted by TTNY’s reminiscent brand of pop punk that could have been ripped straight from one of my favorite Drive-thru comps. Like Set Your Goals, This Time Next Year take their name from a band that inspired them, and the Movielife would likely be proud of such a band carrying the torch they lit. Next on the stage, Man Overboard’s three guitar assault and excellent harmonies were exceedingly effective at getting the crowd riled up, as fists in the air bounced along to the self-proclaimed defenders of pop punk. I’d be willing to bet that fans that went into the show unfamiliar with these bands, walked out with an armload of their cds and t-shirts.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/

and Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens