One man's canceled tour is another screaming-teenage-girl's dream. New Found Glory was all set to spend the end of the year on a full-blown rock tour with Dashboard Confessional when the tour plans collapsed. But for a few select cities, including Salt Lake, that bad news has turned something much more interesting than the average rock show -- an intimate Dashboard/NFG acoustic mini-tour.

When the original plans fell through, "[Dashboard Confessional's] Chris [Carrabba] called and asked us if we were willing to play a small tour," says New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Booloki. "After we said yes, he added in the caveat, 'I want you to play acoustic.'"

When IN caught up with Bolooki on opening day of the 16-date engagement, New Found Glory was still frantically preparing their material.

"This isn't really our day job," Bolooki says of planning a tour without the help of Marshall amps. "We're grinding through the songs, but all of us are really surprised by how well they have translated."

"We've found different ways to make the songs flow and still have the energy that they'd normally have when we play them live. We're really excited to see how people react to them. We're having a blast playing them."

The acoustic set doesn't just give NFG the chance to rework their catalog, but allows each of its members to step outside of their usual roles. "Everyone's just grabbing instruments and doing whatever they can," says Bolooki, who will play a bit of piano and guitar in addition to a bunch of percussion instruments. "I think we're going to be able to show our musicality on this tour."

While these performances should be a real treat for fans, NFG are not putting away their electric guitars for long. "The acoustic tour is not a start of a trend for New Found Glory, but it is a way for us to put an exclamation point on the end of the year," Bolooki says.

After the tour, the band members will head their separate ways for the holidays. But then it's back to work in January, when the band begins celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its debut album with a worldwide tour with Saves The Day.

Though the holiday break is great a way for the band to unwind and focus on family, Bolooki says the dudes in the band don't waste time being sentimental with each other. "We don't usually give each other Christmas gifts. Three of the guys are Jewish and I'm not willing to buy them 12 gifts each." Bah humbug.