St. LOUIS — In a concert tour coming to the Factory, New Found Glory insists "Pop Punk's Still Not Dead."
The band performs Sept. 23 with Less Than Jake, the band's touring buddies from 2003, along with Hot Mulligan and Lolo. Simple Plan has dropped off the bill.
New Found Glory's latest album is "Forever + Ever x Infinity" (2020), featuring "Backseat," "The Last Red-Eye," "Scarier Than Jason Voorhees at a Campfire" and "Greatest of All Time."
Lead singer Jordan Pundik spoke on behalf of the band.
Q. Can you break down the title of the "Pop Punk's Still Not Dead Tour"?
A. It has more meaning now. The tour almost did die because of COVID stuff and Simple Plan not being able to play. Us being who we are, we never want to let our people down. So we made it happen. Less Than Jake jumped on and made it happen. Hot Mulligan did also.
Q. Where does the perception of pop punk being dead come from?
A. For so many years, while we were doing these big shows, we were hearing, "Aww, nobody cares about that music anymore; we listened to that in high school, and we're over it." I think as you get older you get into different types of music, and music becomes quote-unquote "more mature," and they feel guilty or ashamed that they liked the music in the first place.
We're a band that's going to keep doing what we do, whether they show up or not.
Q. What have you seen that shows pop punk isn't dead?
A. From what I'm seen over the years, it's only gotten better for us. Not only have we been a band for a long time, but the band has a lot of credibility. We played St. Louis in front of 10 people at the Creepy Crawl, and we keep coming back and coming back. We've now been a band for 23 years. It's weird to think about that because I'm still young.
But I notice the same fans coming back, and they're bringing their younger brothers and sisters. It's an ever-evolving fanbase.
Q. How did Less Than Jake come into the mix?
A. Chad (Gilbert of New Found Glory) reached out to JR (Peter Wasilewski of Less Than Jake) and said, "Hey, are you guys busy? We got some issues going on." They were immediately like, "Yeah, let's do it." Less Than Jake was one of the bands to take us out and show us what touring was about when we first started, and we always try to return the favor whenever we can. They were our first choice. They bring a party.
Q. What happened with Simple Plan?
A. I just think it was a conflict of interest with the COVID stuff. Everyone has their thing that they are comfortable with. We have a lot of things in place to make it safe. We can't hang with Less Than Jake in the dressing rooms or go on their tour bus. That's the whole fun of tours. We had to do whatever we could to make the tour happen.
Q. What's it like touring with vaccine and negative COVID-19 test requirements at venues such as the Factory?
A. It's definitely weird. It took some getting used to. We're 10 or 12 shows in. It's different in every state, every city. We have to be willing to be open-minded and adjust to the mandates. Some people were no-shows, but for the most part, people want to get out and see a show. Ninety percent of people are doing what they gotta do to see a show.
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What New Found Glory, Less Than Jake, Hot Mulligan, Lolo
When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23
Where: The Factory, 17105 North Outer 40 Road, Chesterfield, Missouri
How much: $35-$50 — More info ticketmaster.com
