Live Review: New Found Glory, Stand Atlantic

Warming up the crowd tonight is Stand Atlantic, and what a gig for this band to score! The Sydney trio rock the crowd with their poppy melodies coupled with a fierce delivery, which is illustrated particularly well in Chemicals. Their sound is reminiscent of early Tonight Alive and Stand Atlantic's singer Bonnie Fraser demonstrates the utmost confidence while working the crowd; her old-school, pop-punk vocals energetic and lively throughout.

Legendary pop-punkers New Found Glory are in the middle of their 20 Years Of Pop Punk anniversary tour during which they're playing albums in full each night. Tonight, being the second Melbourne show, we are to be blessed with 2004's Catalyst and 2009's Not Without A Fight.

New Found Glory: what icons! They are the voice of a generation. Now, with the four-piece on stage in front of us, we feel at home again. Truck Stop Blues kickstarts the show as the lyrics, "I'm in a different state every night," blare through the speakers at mega-volume and, hell! Have we been taken to another world? New Found Glory have been an influence and inspiration for many pop-punk bands across the years and seeing just how packed-out this venue is tonight pays tribute to these influential legends. "You get more bang for your buck," guitarist Chad Gilbert jokes of how Melbourne is the only city on this tour that gets to hear six albums across their three shows.

It's crowd-surfing on steroids as bodies fly through the air, landing upside down in the arms of security guards as singer Jordan Pundik tries to fist-bump passing fans. Despite having been together for 20 years, NFG are as fit and charismatic as ever. It feels like no time has passed and Pundik's vocals have been perfectly maintained to showcase his iconic pop-punk tone as the band covers every square centimetre of the relatively small Corner Hotel stage.

After an hour playing non-stop, it's mind-blowing to see that New Found Glory's energy never falters; in fact, it just gets rowdier by the minute and Failure's Not Flattering is a strong highlight. The band really make an effort to keep things entertaining throughout their long set with small banter breaks giving the band time to catch their breath. A fan offers up $10 to gets bassist Ian Grushka to take his shirt off in a semi-strip tease and if shit wasn't already wild, it gets cranked up to 11 as the encore hits. Bodies are flailing everywhere and smiles beam from the stage, expressing the band's passion and gratitude.

The Floridians give Melbourne one last hurrah during final song All Downhill From Here. At least, that is, until they do it all again tomorrow night. Who's up for round three?