I have waited for some time to see Simple Plan in action on
their own turf (a headline show rather than a festival outing), and was fully
expecting a set of pop punk glory here tonight, along with some of the finest
anthems around from one of the genre’s masters. Although expectations were
high, there was simply (ahem) no way the energetic Canuck’s were going to drop
the ball here tonight.
Last year’s Get Your Heart On! was hit after hit, and couple that with a killer back catalogue of some of the finest tunes pop punk has to offer, then this was always going to be a high octane, breathless (read – sweaty) night out on the Ritz tiles.
Coupling them with Floridian pop-punkers We The Kings was a
booking masterpiece, and with no other opening act, allowing them to take a
healthy 40 minute opening set, is pure genius. We The Kings are no slackers in
the anthem department either, and their 40 minute set is so well received you
would at times wonder if they were here to headline. They get a great reaction,
not least because a set of such length allows them to treat the crowd before
them to a jam packed hit filled set, heavy on killer, with very little to
no-filler around.
She Takes Me High is a massive opener, and Skyway Avenue
quickly follows, which, a number of years since it first dropped on that
seminal eponymous debut, is still one of the finest songs the band have ever
written, or could wish to write. It’s all summery pop goodness; Kiss Me Last,
without a doubt the standout track from last album Sunshine State of Mind is
immense, Secret Valentine is yet another inch perfect pop punk classic, and
when they drop in a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle (now customary for
them), the floor collectively begin to rightly lose their shit. Many may scoff
that a cover of another track in a mere 40 minute set suggests they are short
of material of their own to really make a mark, but that is not the case. Also,
there is no way that The Middle can ever get thrown out and not feel like it
belongs there. It is an anthem for a generation, and so long as We The Kings
continue to play it, the crowd will continue to go mental for it.
As they close on an enormous Check Yes, Juliet, you wonder
whether they will ever reach the heady heights scaled by tonight’s headliners.
They may not, but they surely deserve a shot – they have some incredible songs,
and they will only continue to get better. Their last two albums may not have
been anywhere near as incredible as that debut, but they can get their heads
back in the game, and we will continue to wait on that new record. Hopefully it
will be pop punk gold.
As Simple Plan step up, it is hard to argue with a solid two
hours worth of pop punk hits.
Delivered perfectly, to a crowd that sing every word
straight back at them, tonight was never going to be anything more than a
success, and a workout of each crowd member’s vocal chords. Bands will spend
their career trying to write this many hits, and Simple Plan just have it; they
possess a knack for writing killer pop punk anthems, packed with huge hooks and
choruses, which has, over time, cemented their legacy as one of the most consistent
and long standing bands in the game.
Just when you wondered whether they would hit their peak or
shy away into the sunset, (basking in former glories) last year’s Get Your
Heart On! proved that they were in rudimental health, and that they were going
nowhere; it stands as their finest work to date, rivaling that pumped up debut
record which dropped an astonishing 10 years ago this year.
They celebrate that fact with an extended medley mid-set of
many of the tracks from that cut, but tonight is mostly a career spanning
greatest hits set that takes in the best of their sterling back catalogue.
Shut Up gets the energy pumping right out of the blocks,
before one of the stand outs of last years release, Can’t Keep My Hands Off You,
kicks things into overdrive early on. It is huge, arguably the finest lyric of
the decade on show with “there’s fungus growing in the ice-box, all I got left
are fruit roll-ups”, starting things off with a real bang. Jump is enormous
(even with a cheeky snippet of I Gotta Feeling thrown in for good measure),
echoing the general consensus of the crowd in that it really is going to be a
good night, with jams-a-plenty from the Simple Plan boys.
Addicted is as humorous as ever, and You Suck At Love is
another massive moment for the band, their opening from last year’s career
best, and another hook that puts other bands to shame with a skyscraper of a
chorus. A relatively pointless but well received pop covers section segues into
another enormous hit from that last record, the Natasha Bedingfield
collaboration of Jet Leg, losing none of its punch even in spite of a lack of a
female counterpart to sing with lead singer Pierre Bouvier.
The aforementioned medley is a nice touch, (it is great to
hear Worst Day Ever once more) and the inspirational This Song Saved My Life
and Welcome To My Life are perhaps two of the most poignant moments you will
witness all year in the live arena. Not for the first time this evening, some
in the crowd, mostly female, will find these the more emotional parts of the
evening’s entertainment, some even going to far as to shed a little tear(!!).
The colossal I’d Do Anything tears the house down as it closes the set proper,
reminding everyone in attendance, 10
years on, exactly why it is one of the best pop punk songs ever written. It
doesn’t get much bigger or indeed better.
It should rightly end the show, but the band return for a
final triplet of Loser of the Year and a outgoing one-two of Crazy and Perfect,
sung acoustically by Pierre on his own for the most part, before the band turn
up and round off a rousing finale, and the night’s festivities. 120 minutes of
high powered, in your face pop punk leaves the crowd a sweaty mess, but panting
for more.
Simple Plan brought the hits tonight, and not one person in
attendance goes home disappointed. An absolute powerhouse of a performance.
Setlist – Intro / Shut Up / Can't Keep My Hands Off
You / Jump (with a little snippet of I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
cover) / When I'm Gone / Addicted / You Suck at Love / Thank You / Your
Love Is a Lie / Astronaut / Summer Paradise / Moves Like Jagger, Dynamite,
Sexy and I Know It (medley) / Jet Lag / The Worst Day Ever, When I'm With
You, My Alien, You Don't Mean Anything, God Must Hate Me (No Pads, No
Helmets... Just Balls medley) / This Song Saved My Life / Welcome to My Life / I'd
Do Anything / Loser of the Year / I'm Just a Kid / Crazy (acoustic) / Perfect
(acoustic start, then full band)
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