Live Review: New Found Glory & Roam - Portsmouth Pyramids, Portsmouth 25/09/2017

New Found Glory hit the road, celebrating 20 years of pop punk and I was quite possibly the youngest person in the venue. There was no better choice than ROAM to open up the evening for them, hitting the stage with a new track ‘Alive’ off their upcoming album which is set to release next month. Although the majority of the crowd are there for New Found Glory, the openers warm up the crowd with a few joining in jumping along towards the end. My favourite of the set, another new track, ‘Playing Fiction’ went down a treat. I think ROAM have walked away with a bunch of new fans from their incredible opening set.



With so many absolute tunes, how did New Found Glory compile a set list of only 20 odd? Playing favourites across the ‘Sticks and Stones’ and ‘Not Without A Fight’ albums. Kicking off with ‘Understatement’ the crowd are off their feet from the off. All members of the band are interacting with the audience at every opportunity, dancing around the stage in true pop punk fashion. It’s quite impressive to see the energy still there after 20 years on the road, but the set flashes by in an instant and the band leave the stage to the pray of an encore. With no surprise, they re-emerge with a few more tracks and finish on the ever famous ‘My Friends Over You’ to which every member of the audience is singing along to. Is it really a New Found Glory gig if you don’t get the chance to scream ‘I still pick my friends over you’? 20 years on and New Found Glory have still got it.



Photography and Review by Ami Ford