Ok so here we go!
Mic in fist and it’s time to wash away the lockdown blues (their words). Emo is back to save us, and New Found Glory came out swinging like it’s 2002 all over again. From the first chords of Something I Call Personality, the place went wild. It was like a wave of teenage energy crashing back over a grown-up crowd who didn’t care one bit about being grown up anymore.
It felt like everyone in the room had been waiting years for this. their triumphant return to the UK after Lockdown. There was a lot of love in the room, You could see it on every face, pure joy, big smiles, voices shouting every lyric like they’d been stored up in the back of people’s throats since the last time NFG hit Manchester. Who knew emo could make us all happy as Larry? I only wish I’d found my old black skinny jeans to really complete the look.
The band tore through Hit or Miss, Head On Collision and Truck Stop Blues without missing a beat. The crowd was bouncing, crowd-surfers everywhere, posh ale being spilled, all the good chaos you want from a New Found Glory show. When All Downhill From Here kicked in, the whole warehouse was shaking.
Grant kept the banter going, chatting to the crowd between songs, all heart and humour. Later on, they introduced the extras helping to fill out that massive stage presence Dave Knox on keys for a few tracks, with Buck Langston joining in too. It gave the songs a lovely lift, especially Failure’s Not Flattering, Happy Being Miserable and Hold My Hand, which felt huge in that space.
The setlist was packed with fan favourites and surprises. Sonny got the phones waving, Vicious Love was pure singalong fun, and their cover of Kiss Me somehow managed to make a room full of sweaty punks look genuinely sweet for a moment. Greatest of All Time hit hard, followed by Understatement, which just about tore the roof off.
ENCORE
Then came the encore, it was goosebumps time. That little Intro tease before My Friends Over You had everyone ready to explode, and when it hit, it was pure euphoria. The faithful in the room were screaming it back word for word, arms around each other, phones in their pockets, voices cracking.What a great ending to a night that reminded everyone exactly why this band still means so much to their fans.
New Found Glory didn’t just play a gig – they reignited something. For a couple of hours, it felt like every lost festival, every cancelled tour, every missed night out just melted away.
Emo is alive, well and it’s smiling on my face.
PHOTOS BY SIMON LEE
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