The 5th Annual Glamour Kills Tour featuring New Found Glory stopped in New Jersey on Saturday at the Starland Ballroom. The tour features some of the biggest names in the pop punk scene. A scene I kind of fell out of, but after this show I am starting to find myself drifting back to. The opening band, Candy Hearts, is a band that the scene needs. Discovered by Chad Gilbert, Candy Hearts brings back that innocent and fun music I grew up on. They fall into the sound of bands like Side Walk Slam, Run Kid Run, and The Hippos, without horns of course. I like bands like Candy Hearts, their music is addictingly catchy and even though the lyrics revolve around breakups you can’t help but sing with a smile on your face. As for playing live, Candy Hearts do an excellent job. Mariel Loveland is a great frontwoman, just having fun with a smile on her face. I started to think she hasn’t had one bad day in her life. That can’t be true though. This was a perfect tour for this group. I like to think at least half the crowd or more became fans after seeing them perform. I am actually kicking myself for not seeing them when they rolled through Whitehall, PA, I would’ve been a fan much earlier.
http://www.candyheartsband.com/
Fireworks from Detroit were up next, bringing a more progressive pop-punk sound. They reminded me a little bit of Say Anything actually. I’ve been hearing about Fireworks more and more and haven’t checked them out. However, it seemed like they had a pretty big following in New Jersey because the crowd moved around a lot during their performance. Playing about a dozen songs, Fireworks did a great job getting the crowd pumped. Guitarist Brett Jones wouldn’t stop moving with aggression which I haven’t seen in awhile in a live performance. I can see Fireworks becoming a much bigger band in time. If they keep getting tours like this, it will happen in no time.
http://wearefireworks.tumblr.com/
The biggest surprise of the night was We Are The In Crowd. I knew about We Are The In Crowd and that they had a big following, but I wasn’t ready for the crowd. At first, the crowd was very tame, just enjoying the music. By the second song, I was looking over my shoulders while photographing because of the crowd surfers. I wasn’t expecting that many crowd surfers. Lead singer Tay was in front of the crowd reaching out and wanting the fans to get closer. I can understand why this band is important to a lot people. The band really cares about their fans and seems to want to incorporate them into their performance. Even though their set was pretty short, I would’ve thought this was a co-headline tour for how many fans were there to see We Are The In Crowd.
Out of all the bands I listened to growing up, New Found Glory was a band I never got to see live. To be honest though, I am okay that I saw them now. Even though they are much older, they play live as if they were still young. Jordan was running back and forth on stage, Ian was making funny faces, Cyrus only knows one volume on drums and that is loud, and Chad brings the feel of a hardcore show into New Found Glory’s live set. New Found Glory went through a set of about 25 songs including hits, new songs, and fan favorites sprinkled throughout. It is amazing to see how many people, any age, get more excited to hear songs off Self-Titled. This was an album I listened to growing up while entering high school. It is great to see that younger fans are getting into it. New Found Glory will definitely have a longevity career for years to come and to be honest I think they will still perform exactly how I saw them this night. Fun, energic, and unpredictable. Hopefully Stay Puff Marshmallow makes a guest appearance again also.
Favorite Sights & Sounds 