When I first heard NFG, I was a freshman in college in my friends old beat up 1988 Corvette. From the first second I was hooked! Catchy melodic riffs and lyrics that could reach any emo pop-punk fan who has ever had a broken heart. My enthusiasm would be the exact same in the shoulder to shoulder bogarts show Saturday night. Draped with a banner saying “97-Forever”, the stage was empty as the slam packed venue filled up with nostalgic 30 plus year olds waiting to hear the soundtrack to their youth. No one knew what to expect as songs from the new film “Lalaland” played through the historic speakers before the band graced the stage. But upon arrival, the audience was ready to hear the two albums chosen for this performance, Sticks and Stones and Catalyst.

Check out photos from the show here
 

Opening with “Understatement” (The first track off Sticks and Stones), lead singer Jordan Pundik had everyone singing the words for him, as he jumped around every angle of the stage. Though a decade and a half had passed, the band was still timeless.  Bouncing back and forth from song to song off both albums, it didn’t take long for crowd surfers and mosh pits to arise, as the audience didn’t miss a single lyric. Halfway through the show, lead guitarist Chad Gilbert stated they were already done with the first set, and then went into the next song, meaning there was no set break happening tonight. Also, worth mentioning was that apparently, Cincinnati was not on their tour originally, but they made sure to come here because “Cincinnati has always welcomed us, and we couldn’t do a 20-year anniversary tour without coming to Bogart’s”. One particular moment that stuck out to me was during the heartbeat thumping, “Failures Not Flattering”. As the Chad gave Jordan the note it started in, Jordan hummed that note, then let the audience hum the note, then together everyone was singing the same note, as he went into the opening lines, “What’s your problem? Can’t you see it? Then you go and blow it, like everyone knows you will!”

The lights dimmed after seemingly they’re last song, but the crowd wasn’t done yet. Neither was NFG. The band came back for a three-song encore, ending with a combination of the “Intro” to Catalyst, combined with their biggest single, “My Friends Over You”. Satisfied and hoarse from singing every word, the crowd stumbled out, high fiving and hugging each other from what was an unforgettable experience. NFG did not disappoint, and from the biggest fan to the newest listener, everyone was on cloud 9. 

This was my first time seeing NFG, and being such a long-time fan, it was a show that will live with me forever. Though I am 33 now, I felt like I was 19 years old last night, sitting in that beat up 1988 corvette passenger seat, hanging onto every melody and screaming every word.

Setlist

• Understatement
• All Downhill from Here
• Never Give Up
• Who Am I
• Something I Call Personality
• Truth of My Youth
• Belated
• At Least I'm Known for Something
• The Great Houdini
• Sonny
• No News Is Good News
• Head On Collision
• Doubt Full
• Failure's Not Flattering
• It's Been a Summer
• Your Biggest Mistake
• I'd Kill to Fall Asleep
• Happy Being Miserable
• This Disaster
• Over the Head, Below the Knees
• Singled Out
• I Don't Wanna Know
• (Tribute to a NFG fan who laid a guy out at a Cradle of Filth concert.)
• Forget My Name
• The Story So Far
• Encore:
• Ending in Tragedy
• Intro
• My Friends Over You