Have you ever found yourself with a feeling of FOMO and the only way to quench it is to go see a band that you haven’t seen in years?
That was how I felt Thursday night. All week I was hemming and hawing as to whether I should go see New Found Glory. They were playing an inside show at The Stone Pony in Asbury. The pros were it was close by. The cons were that I didn’t have anyone to go with. My husband has been working nights early in the month and was unable to join me.
After a long day of debating, I was bored at home and decided to check it out. I got there with 10 minutes to spare before the band took the stage.
The place was packed and I hadn’t been inside the venue since before Covid. It seemed much smaller, especially with the wall-to-wall fans at the sold-out show.
I didn’t understand why the show was not outside on the Summer Stage. There is no doubt that New Found Glory would draw a crowd big enough for the venue. At one point in the show, lead singer Jordan Pundik mentioned they reached out to add the NJ venue to their show last minute. Perhaps they couldn’t fit it into the summer stage lineup?
Regardless, it was a great show had by all that night.
The band took the stage around 9 pm and played their hearts out. The music took me back to the year 2000 when they played their self-titled release in full. They joked as if they were an opening band and New Found Glory was coming out next.
Even though I probably haven’t listened to that album in almost 22 years every word came flooding back to me as if no time has passed.
You could feel the love and nostalgia in the air as fans crowd surfed and Pundik spoke of his love for Asbury Park and New Jersey.
Their album Sticks and Stones was also honored that night as they played that in its entirety. It was interesting to see how the crowd differentiated a bit. Even though the two albums were just two years apart you could see how some of the crowd knew all the songs from their self-titled album but didn’t know the songs on sticks and stones. The same was said for the self-titled release. There was a large part of the crowd by the bar who looked like they didn’t know the songs but were still appreciating them.
Overall, this show was so exciting and tore the heartstrings of fans who have been waiting for this for the past two years. It was especially emotional when the lead singer Facetimed guitarist Chad Gilbert. Gilbert was not able to join the tour due to undergoing cancer treatment. The fans had well wishes for Gilbert and the set proceeded with some more high-energy tunes.
The night was magical and I am so glad I decided to go solo. Hope the band comes to play The Stone Pony again soon!
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