New Found Glory w/ The Ataris
The Showbow, Seattle, WA
11.21.17
These days, not many things last 20 years. Passports don’t, most fashion trends don’t, and the organic bananas on my kitchen counter have not even lasted 20 days. One thing that has lasted, however, is New Found Glory. Not only have they existed 20 years, but they have put out nine successful pop-punk albums along the way. If this “20 Years of Pop Punk” tour proved anything, it’s that NFG plan to be relevant for a whole lot longer.
The Ataris kicked off the show—the first of two nights in Seattle—with one of their hits, “In This Diary.” Lead singer (and the only original member) Kris Roe, came out last to cheers from the crowd. It was like a trip down memory lane hearing The Ataris playing their songs, most notably, “So Long Astoria.” The performance from Kris Roe was not of that of his prime, but a killer half-hour was still incredible to experience.
A band like The Ataris, who exploded onto the music scene about the same time as NFG, really rounded out this tour. Hearing songs that were 10, 15, 20 years old felt nostalgic and special. They even snuck in a cover of Jawbreaker’s “Boxcar!”
Even the new additions to the band were great. The bass player jumped off the stage for the last song and crowd surfed over the fans—all while playing his bass and not missing a beat. The gave their set the perfect ending with “San Dimas High School Football Rules” and “Boys of Summer.”
NFG opened up their set with a montage of video footage from the last 20 years including their time spent touring in a small van to their now, and everything in between. Playing over the video was the song, “20 Years From Now,” which was fitting. They had recorded it during their last album, Makes Me Sick, but thought the song needed to stand on its own.
The video ended and the band came running out on stage. But before the fans could even take a breath to scream in excitement, NFG played straight into “Understatement“ and the crowd went wild.
There was an energy to NFG that could only be experienced in person. A recording of a live show can’t possibly translate the feeling of being in a room full people dancing, jumping, and mashing along with the band. Each musician ran back and forth, dodging each other, hardly spending any time with their feet planted on the actual stage. They almost appeared to be floating as they jumped around the entire night.
For their first night playing in Seattle, NFG performed all of the songs off their 2000 self-titled album and 2002’s Sticks and Stones. Two of their most notable albums performed in their entirety is apparently something you can only see once every 20 years.
In between, they sprinkled songs off their last album, Makes Me Sick, including “Party on Apocalypse,” and “Happy Being Miserable.” Since they have not gotten to tour on that album yet, this tour might be followed by another early next year. Fingers crossed!
Lead guitarist, Chad Gilbert, did not describe the evening as a concert, but more of a “birthday party” celebrating their fans. They pulled out all sorts of things to celebrate with, including bags full of balloons which were thrown into the crowd. Towards the end of the night, they released confetti during the song “My Friends Over You.” The fans attending spanned the entire 20 years, including a father with his young son who rocked out in the front. Dad was certainly showing his son what pop-punk looked and sounded like.
As the night ended, the only cure for your concert hangover was knowing there was a second evening of music to follow. Here’s to hoping that every band starts playing two shows in every city. Thanks to NFG for your past 20 years, and cheers for forging onward!
Review and photos by Logan Westom
New Found Glory
The Ataris
