Reading And Leeds Memories: New Found Glory

NFG's Cyrus Bolooki looks back on their first performance at Reading in 2002...

Posted Sunday, 21 August 2011 by Rock Sound in

Blog

New Found Glory's first time at the Reading Festival was back in 2002, as part of the Radio 1 Evening Session Stage. For me, Reading was a myth up until then - I always read about bands who played ‘The Festivals,’ and how much different they were overseas compared to the US, and it wasn't until playing Reading that I finally realized how HUGE the crowds really were at these shows, and how special it was for us to be able to take part in such an event.

Even though we weren't on the main stage that year, the crowd we played to was one of the largest we had seen at the time, or at least the largest UK crowd for us up to that date. That year - 2002 - was pretty massive for NFG as well, as we had just released our album ‘Sticks and Stones’, and we were enjoying fair amounts of radio play for our singles ‘My Friends Over You’ and ‘Head On Collision’. Also, that time period was right in the middle of the Drive-Thru Records explosion, and we happened to be sharing the stage with Fenix TX and Finch; two bands that were not only friends with us, but also labelmates and tourmates of ours as well, so it was great to have them there at the festivals, too.

To be honest, most of the actual Reading day is a blur to me now. You see, I tend to be the one in the band that's overly particular with my stage setup, so in between interviews / signings and setting up my rental drums (which can sometimes be a nightmare), I didn't have much of a chance to watch the other bands.

But one memory I'll never forget is while we were playing, looking out into the crowd and noticing that there were people OUTSIDE of the tent that were trying to get in to watch us but were having a tough time doing so. There were TOO MANY PEOPLE in the tent watching us... that’s definitely not a bad problem for a band to have at all! What an amazing first experience (of many more to follow) for New Found Glory at Reading!