New Found Glory | Milwaukee, WI
About halfway through their U.S. run, New Found Glory and friends made a stop at the Rave in Milwaukee, WI. As fans filed into the venue, security handed out cards saying moshing or crowd surfing could result in possibly being kicked out. Early in the night, the room started to fill in anticipation. Phoenix-based rock band, Doll Skin took the stage first. It was evident people were slightly wary of moshing or crowd surfing at the start until lead vocalist Sydney Dolezal personally encouraged it. Dolezal encouraged it so much that she came into the crowd herself and started a circle pit during their song “Puncha Nazi.”
After the fear of moshing diminished the audience was all ready to start moving for The Early November, a pop-punk/rock band from New Jersey. It was clear that not much of the crowd knew who they were, but those who did were diehard fans.
Up after The Early November, was Chicago native band Real Friends. They opened up with “Mess” their most popular song off of their junior album The Home Inside My Head. As their set went on the pop-punk band played a vast variety of their discography. They varied between songs like “Get By” and “From the Outside” from their most recent album Composure all the way to “Late Nights in My Car” off of their first album Put Yourself Back Together. This was by far the most the crowd had been engaged all night. Even the bassist of Doll Skin, Nicole Rich, was in the pit and crowd-surfing.
Lastly, New Found Glory took the stage. By this point in the night, the room was packed front to back and overflowing into the bar. To get the crowd moving and excited early the American rock band covered the iconic Survivor song “Eye of the Tiger.” As they continued their set they played a mix of their songs and more covers including “Let it Go” from the Disney movie Frozen and “Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me)” originally played by Landshapes. The audience was packed full of ecstatic fans proving how NFG is still playing after over twenty years of being together.
