New Found Glory, Late 90s @ The Gov, Adelaide 3/12/2025
As summer tries to break through the almost constant barrage of rain that Adelaide has had recently, it’s only fitting we have summery sounds on a day that finally gets sweaty. Who else but the feel good vibes of New Found Glory, readying for Good Things, on a night like tonight?
Opening is Perth’s Late 90’s, whose commitment to garage grunge vibe of the 90’s intertwined with skateboard punk is a pretty good way to whet the appetite. New single Low has a delicious guitar melody throughout and the audience’s inquisitive nature to the bands delightful sound draws many in from the beer garden.
However, it is New Found Glory that has space at a premium tonight. With a crowd featuring a number of local celebrities, it’s easy to see why they have continued to be so popular with a set list spanning their career including most recent releases.
Opening with Something I Call Personality, the room ignites like wildfire as singer Jordan Pundik has the crowd fist pumping before launching into the audience himself during Hit And Miss as one and all belt out the lyrics with gusto. The back-and-forth duet of this banger is class.
A first act featuring a slower Head On Collison, old school pop punk in Truck Stop Blues and the roof railing anthem in All Downhill From Here has the band, all a little older however still charged like young bulls, bouncing across the stage.
NFG are also known for the rocked up cover version of others songs and naturally Let It Go, preceded with Pundik telling the crowd it’s what they are here for, and Kiss Me delivering the smiles that are designed for the band to ramp it up a gear.
Crowd surfers start for Truth Of My Youth while the loudness of the crowd singing in Anthem For The Unwanted means when the much heavier newbie 100% lands, it detonates.
The fist pumping Failure Is Not Flattering is almost biblical, Hold My Hand stirs the pits like a witches cauldron and Understatement has Pundik, still frantically whipping up a storm on stage, lead the party home.
The fun vibes don’t stop as for a cheeky encore the room becomes a mass of sweaty bodies piling on top of each other for My Friends Over You.
It got hot outside today and even hotter inside with NFG not stopping for a seventy five minute cardio workout that released all the dopamine hits you wanted to hear.
Live Review By Iain McCallum