18 March 23-29, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Quiet Down Pop-punk heroes New Found Glory go acoustic. BY DAVID ROLLAND D rummer Cyrus Bolooki has been in the South Florida-born pop-punk band New Found Glory for more than a quarter century. He jokes they still call him the new guy. “A friend who liked skate-punk music gave me a cassette of their demo. It was back when they were called A New Found Glory,” Bo- looki tells New Times. “I loved the songs, and I went searching for them. I met them at a house party. Soon after, their first drummer left, and I joined in the fall of 1997.” Bolooki grew up in Hollywood, while much of the band called Coral Springs home. He remembers the late ‘90s in South Florida fondly. “There was a flourishing punk and hard- core scene,” he says. “We were fortunate to be around so many up-and-coming bands, from Poison the Well to Dashboard Confessional. You could have five bands playing together on a Saturday night, and each one would sound different.” In a surprisingly short time, New Found Glory found national success. The band signed its first record deal with Eulogy Re- cordings while most members were teenag- ers. By 2000, New Found Glory’s self-titled sophomore album and major-label debut re- leased on MCA gave the band its first appear- ance on the Billboard charts and joined the Warped Tour. According to Bolooki, he and the rest of the band had to pinch themselves countless times to ensure they were living the rock-star dream. “I could name a thousand times where we were like, this is insane,” he says. “We always had big goals to be like Green Day and play for 100,000 people, but we also made sure to have small goals. First, we were like, let’s put out a release that we can sell at shows. Then we’re like, let’s play regional shows outside South Florida. Then we were like, let’s play out of state. So in high school and college, we’d drive all the way to the Northeast to play a show and then be back at school on Monday.” Despite the band’s success, the members of New Found Glory never forgot where they came from. In 2018, when singer Jordan Pun- dik’s alma mater Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was in the news for the tragic school shooting, the band did what it could to help put on a benefit show at Pompano Amphitheatre. “We felt it was a necessity to play,” Bolooki adds. “The second that happened, we had the idea to do what we could to raise money for the victims. It was an emotional night. We were able to raise six figures for a victim fund, and we could give back to the community that nurtured us.” Things haven’t gotten much lighter on the band’s latest release, the all-acoustic Make the Most of It. The record was inspired by guitarist Chad Gilbert’s battle with a rare form of cancer. “Chad wanted to document his journey. All the lyrics reflect his battle with the disease,” Bolooki explains. “Usu- ally, as a drummer, I only focus on the music and don’t really think about the lyrics. This time I read the lyrics, and I could feel what he was going through. It’s really deep but also upbeat and hopeful.” With New Found Glory’s 11th album also being its first unplugged record, the band de- cided that its current tour, which hits the Mi- ami Beach Bandshell on Thursday, March 23, would serve as the first acoustic set of shows as well. “This is a very unique New Found Glory show. These are renditions of songs played the way you’ve never heard them,” Bolooki teases. And since many songs don’t call for drums, Bolooki was happy to take turns shredding on guitar and playing the keyboard. While the band is optimistic Gilbert will be well enough to play the homecoming show, it’s still up to the medical professionals. “Chad’s still fighting his battle. He pops in and out of this tour while on chemo. It’s a day-by-day thing where doctors need to weigh in,” Bolooki explains. Regardless of whether Gilbert is there in person or spirit, the night will serve as a cele- bration for a local band made good. “People always yell that when we play down here [that] we play Fort Lauderdale instead of Mi- ami,” Bolooki says. “This is a night for Miami to come on out.” New Found Glory. With Leanna Firestone. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 786-453-2897; miamibeachbandshell.com. Tickets cost $52.45 to $102.72 via dice.fm. [email protected] ▼ Music Pop-punk pioneers New Found Glory will stop by the Miami Beach Bandshell on Thursday, March 23. Photo by Stevie Lownstein “WE WERE FORTUNATE TO BE AROUND SO MANY UP-AND- COMING BANDS, FROM POISON THE WELL TO DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL.”
