 
 Tonight
I get to see a band that I’ve always wanted
to see, but have never gotten round too. You know
how it goes, you like the songs, you check out
the tour dates but you never actually get a ticket,
and if you do something comes up. This was that
band for me, they’ve been around for over
12 years and they’ve played Reading and
Leeds Festivals on numerous occasions and yet
they still managed to evade me. Well tonight is
different, I’m outside the Academy and I’m
ready for some pop punk, the thing is, it’s
not at the Academy, it’s at the Academy
2. Luckily it’s the same building so I head
inside and check out the first support Save Your
Breath
These Welsh punkers play a good set of fast old
school punk, and by old shook I don't mean oi
oi punk, I mean old school Greenday and Offspring
with a twist of heavy breakdowns to make it sound
more new and fresh. The are 5 members, and unfortunately
the sound isn't great in the mix, but I’m
sure they sound good on CD but at least the backing
vocals are great, which add to the poppy New Found
Glory style main vocals! The band goes down well
and NFG’s Jordan watches a few songs from
the side of the stage, I say the crowd are getting
pretty warmed up and are ready for more of the
same, but the next band isn’t going to do
that.
 Fight Like Apes
Are and Irish Electro punk band, you could say
very Yeah Yeah Yeahs in style but allot more experimental.
They start off with a weird and wonderful collection
of noise, with random hits of the keyboard and
the occasional shout that is definitely punk in
its nature but it takes the crowd by surprise.
They play a small set of songs, in which the lyrics
are all over the place, and don’t tend to
make the most sense, but they convey themselves
through the music and stage presence with hair
and body's going everywhere. I'm not sure the
crowd gets it, but I do and I love it! It's different
and reminds me of the Epoxies who are signed to
Fat Wreck Chords. There's definitely a gap in
the market for this style but maybe not supporting
New Found Glory. On a plus note there set is short
and so leaves allot of time for the main act!
New Found Glory
The Florida pop punkers kick straight into a 23
song set covering all 7 albums including a few
covers! They start off the set with the amazing
Understatement and the pace for the next hour
and a half is set, fast punk songs that get the
crowd and the band moving! They sound great, the
mix is good and at one point in the set bassist
Ian plays that hard that he messes up his bass
and has to switch it out. I was confused when
I arrived, why are New Found Glory, one of the
best pop punk bands ever, playing the Academy
2? And half way into the set guitarist and Paramore
lover, Chad Gilbert, tells us “We wanted
to play some smaller venues as we miss playing
to rooms with an atmosphere, we love big  stages
but you just don’t get the same feeling
you do when you play to a smaller crowd of dedicated
fans”. It makes sense, this band has played
the world over, and to play to a smaller crowd
than the norm, it makes the fans that are there
feel special too, as they’re part of only
a few hundred who get to see such a great gig.
They play all the classics to perfection, including;
All Downhill From Here, Kiss Me, Failures Not
Flattering, Dressed To Kill Hit or Miss and ending
with My Friends Over You. They even play the newest
single Radiosurgery and give the Birmingham fans
a treat when they play Boy Crazy due to chants
instead of Better Off Dead. This band love they’re
fans and they love they’re music, Chad tells
the audience “I’m sick of people hating
on pop punk, they think it’s a bad name
to have, but we love it, it’s what we do
and we know you love it to! So here’s to
all the pop punkers out there!”.
Overall tonight’s been a great! With some
interesting support bands and a long set of classic
New Found Glory songs no-one is walking away disappointed.
I’m happy that I’ve seen New Found
Glory, but at the same time I’m annoyed,
annoyed due to the fact I never checked them out
live before!
New Found Glory 4.5/5
Fight Like Apes 2.5/5
Save Your Breath 3/5
Review By James Daly
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