A New Found Glory Story

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I have only seen New Found Glory once in my life. It was during the summer 2002 Warped Tour that took place in Bithlo. I remember going with Hayley, her friend Erin, and Erin's sister. I had just turned 17 and was so ready to see all the bands. NFG played the main stage of course so although I saw their set, I saw them at a distance. But it was still memorable. That whole day was memorable.

NFG is from Florida so they are always playing Orlando. I've wanted to see them again over the years but something always kept me from going - living in Palm Coast, work, other plans, etc. The point is I haven't seen them in 14 years which is pretty crazy. So when I saw they put together mini Florida-only tour and were making a stop at The Social I jumped on the tickets. Not just regular tickets. I bought the VIP package which included tickets to the show, a shirt, a beach towel, and a meet & greet.

Yesterday I left work early so Dustin and I would have time to eat dinner before heading downtown. The traffic was horrendous but we made it around 6:15pm and waited in the VIP line. Once we got inside we kept waiting in line. NFG had a little beauty photo op set up to go with the whole Vacation Tour theme. They were in Hawaiian shirts, swim trunks, and had a lovely palm tree background behind them. We watched them talk and take photos to all of the fans before us. We basically watched everyone because we were at the very end of the line.

Finally it was our turn! I gave my phone to a girl on the stage (who took all the photos). Then I went and shook all of their hands. Dustin and I both complimented their shirts.

Dustin: "Those shirts are very Full House Goes To Hawaii"
NFG: "Yes! We watched Fuller House and love it."

I didn't say much other than thanking them for taking the time to meet with us. I also congratulated Chad on his recent marriage to Hayley Williams of Paramore. As we were leaving Chad stopped Dustin and said something about his Penguins shirt.

Chad: "They were the best team on NHL '99!"
Dustin: "You've got to check out NHL '94."

And that was that. They were all super nice, normal, fun people. I'm glad we got to hang out with them for a few minutes.

The shitty thing about the whole VIP package is that once you're done meeting them you have to go back outside in the regular venue line. So once again we were all the way in the back. Like WTF. VIP should mean that we get to just hang out inside. We finally got inside. Again. I ran straight to the bathroom. I had to pee so fucking bad. I love going to The Social because I've been there so much that I know exactly where everything is. It makes things so much easier. I asked Dustin to get me a Gatorade while I was gone (so I could pee some more!). Ha.

Then we waited some more. Finally the opening band came out. Dustin and I were not impressed. Not only did we not like their music but their whole set was deafening loud. It was uncomfortable. I was so excited when they were done.

It was 9pm by the time NFG hit the stage. I was ready for bed at that point but they came out swinging with their catchy little pop punk songs that I got a burst of energy. They threw several beach balls into the crowd and everyone went nuts. I thought it was great. I loved watching them bounce around during each song and even taking a shot at hitting it myself. That was until one of the balls flew right at my face. I tried to swat it away but it hit me which in turn knocked my glasses clean off my face. I turned to Dustin in panic and screamed "MY GLASSES!". He rushed to my aid and turned the light on his phone to look on the ground before they got crushed by some old smelly chucks. But then the girl behind us gave my glasses to Dustin. Apparently she had caught them and they never hit the floor. Praise hands! Thank you lovely glasses angel. (Side Note: I got kicked in the head the first time I saw them. I guess it's just part of the package.) From that moment on Dustin was like my body guard when it came to all flying beach balls and pool floats. That's right, half way through the show they added two pool floats to the mayhem. One was a dolphin and the other a gator. It was like a straight up weird tropical vacation. The other issue I experienced was the guy in front of me. He wanted to video every second of everything. And not only that, but as he held his phone up his entire arm was blocking my view. This went on for a while until Dustin tapped him on the shoulder and said something along the lines of "Enough with the phone. You're arm is blocking her entire view". I mean, anyone who knows me knows how much I love to capture moments on videos but at the same time I like to be present. There is a balance with everything. Also, I would never want to get in the way of someone's experience. This guy was just in his own little New Found Glory world. But after Dustin talked to him he was much better and I actually had a decent view. NFG was great. They just have such a fun energy. Ian had a light up guitar. Cyrus had Animal set up on his drums. Chad had a Mickey Mouse sticker on his guitar. And of course Jordan was his awesome crazy self. Chad started naming bands from Florida and Jordan would start singing lines from their famous songs. So we heard on-line covers of Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, and Creed. It was pretty special. Ha! NFG put on a hell of a show. They were the very opposite of Jeb Bush aka high energy. And best of all they sounded great.

Dustin and I are way too old for this shit. As the kids would say "We can't hang." We left so sweaty and sore. The worst part were our ears were ringing from that shit first band. Actually, my left ear is still ringing as I write this 24 hours later. It's fucking dumb. I checked my FitBit app. and wouldn't you know I had my best day ever.

Apparently, my cardio is a New Found Glory Show.