Pop Break Live: New Found Glory at The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey
Words & Photos by Willy Mellott
On June 8th, New Found Glory brought their From The Screen, To Your Stereo, To Your Town tour to Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. The band is touring in support of their latest album, From The Screen to Your Stereo 3 which was released last month. The record features punk rock covers of movie music spanning all genres of film.
The night had a movie theme from the second the crew started setting the stage for New Found Glory’s set. Themes from Ghostbusters to Harry Potter played over the venue’s sound system while the set change was occurring. Lead singer, Jordan Pundik, took the stage wearing a boxing robe and boxing glove with his band mates playing “Eye of the Tiger.” For every movie cover, Pundik dressed as a character from the film. This included him wearing everything from a PT Barnum outfit for The Greatest Showman’s “This is Me” to a blue dress and blonde wig as the band played a cover of “Let it Go.”
Guitarist, Chad Gilbert, thanked fans for over 20 years of fun and explained “our goal is to give that fun back to you, the fans.” They definitely gave the crowd a fun filled night as they played a set of covers intermixed with classic New Found Glory songs such as “All Downhill From Here” and “Hit or Miss.” Bags of popcorn were thrown from band members into the pit to go along with their cinema theme.
After the main set, the band left the stage and the venue went dark. Audio from Back to the Future played throughout the venue of Doc and Marty testing out the DeLorean time machine for the first time. As we heard the DeLorean turn on, two spotlights shined into the crowd like the DeLorean’s headlights. The lights “drove” around the venue and the band returned to the stage with a cover of “The Power of Love” from Back to the Future featuring Pundik dressed as Marty McFly. The night ended as confetti fell and the packed crowd sang along to the final song of the night, “My Friend’s Over You.” Concert goers left with nostalgia from not only the band’s 20 years of hits, but also memories of movies they’ve watched over the years.
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