Concert Review - Simple Plan, Auckland New Zealand, 2018

Simple Plan

19th April 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.

Anniversary tours of debut or most influential (i.e. bestselling and possibly award winning) albums have certainly become popular nowadays; and as we race toward the two thousand and twenties (eek!) expect to see more of them. Especially from bands that were popular in the 90’s and early 00’s. Simple Plan is one such band that has jumped on the nostalgia train. Having formed back in 1999 as a group of 17-20yr olds, it was the perfect time for them to hit the scene with their rock infused pop-punk hilarities that hinted at lewd jokes, bro time and of course angst. Lots of angst.

Fast forward to 2018 and many of the members are now married with children of their own. But that certainly wasn’t going to stop them from completely bringing the house down in Auckland tonight in front of hundreds of screaming fans. Last here in 2005 where the quintet played the St James (oh how we miss that venue!) many of tonight’s fans would have been too young to attend. So it was great to see that The Powerstation were running a split level set-up with those under the age of 18 being able to watch the band from the safety of the upper level. Downstairs it was a sea of mixed generations, all however with mile wide smiles as they kept their eyes glued to the stage for the first sign of life. That first sign came in form of air raid sirens, the sound almost deafening inside the enclosed venue; from the shadows sprang the band, looking fit, on form and ready to party – which for a pop-punk band, is exactly what you want to see.

Those fans of the diehard persuasion of course would have already been aware of the situation; but for many others it was a moment of scan the stage and wonder if you had been short changed as the usual quintet were now a quartet; bass guitarist David Desrosiers noticeably missing. Having bowed out from the European leg of their tour back in May 2017 to treat his depression, it would appear that Desrosiers is still not yet well enough to rejoin the band, instead a stand in playing from the back corner of the stage. With a giant backdrop banner displaying their name in the colours of black, white and red, lead vocalist Pierre Bouvier wearing a ‘Role Model’ tshirt with a giant 9 emblazoned on the back surveyed the audience with a grin etched upon his face. Being the anniversary tour of their debut album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls the forthcoming set list was already well known to the fans, so as the band kicked off with opening track ‘I’d Do Anything’ the audience were ready; their vocals almost matching the sound system itself in volume.

There was singing, dancing and yes even a few tears as that first song played, Bouvier pausing in the middle of the track to ask how everyone was before telling them all that they were beautiful, which prompted even higher pitched screaming from those of the fairer sex – and maybe a few boys as well. Second song up ‘Worst Day Ever’ and the band showed that their sense of humour was definitely still intact as they freeze framed in the middle of the track, two of the members dabbing and holding the pose for several seconds to the great delight of the audience. Indeed by barely the fourth song Simple Plan had ensured that each and every fan knew that they were here to deliver. With boundless energy (despite his jokes of requiring a breather halfway through a song) Bouvier rocketed from one side of the stage to the other, playing up to the crowd and blowing kisses while standing atop a riser. He is a frontman with panache and a love of Takamine acoustic guitars, which would make an appearance later in the evening.

Bouvier deftly moved from taking the fans through a sing-a-long “this is for advanced fans only” to making jokes about how back in 2002 when the album first came out many in the crowd would have been told ‘No’ by their mums when requesting to go and see the live show. Now of course they could all say ‘Fuck you mum, I’m going to see Simple Plan!’ Bouvier bursting into laughter as he then advised them to never ever speak like that to their mothers. Following it all up with a story of how he left his passport at home (which happened to be two hours’ drive away) and almost missed his flight to NZ, his fans raucously celebrated with him the fact that it had (obviously) all worked out in the end.

Introductions of the band saw a nice little solo from Jeff Stinco that certainly erred more on the shredding side of rock than pop, while Sébastien Lefebvre was declared to be the sexiest member of the band (while we can’t confirm or deny if he is the sexiest or not, we can confirm that he is a lovely guy with a great sense of humour – which you can read for yourself here in our interview with him).

‘One Day’ brought the party vibe to the room as three large black and white beach balls were thrown into the crowd, Bouvier almost causing a riot as he asked who would like a signed one. Grabbing a pen he inked his name across the plastic ball and tossed it towards the back, the sound of squealing indicating that several fans were desperately trying to get their arms around the unruly object to claim it as their own while Bouvier made some rather tongue in cheek jokes about the fact that all he has ever wanted to do was “travel the world and have people play with my balls.” Feeling a little left out, drummer Chuck Comeau soon got in on the act. Wearing his own Role Model tshirt (Role Model being the clothing line founded by Bouvier and Comeau) he took to the front of the stage for a small sing a long, while Bouvier displayed his own drumming prowess. Encouraged by Lefebvre and then the audience themselves, Comeau finished his moment in the spotlight with a rather impressive stage dive.

Instagram photos with fans on stage, more jokes and of course some emotional singing to songs such as ‘Perfect’ which Bouvier kicked off on an acoustic finished the first half of the show, the band returning after a few moments of darkness (allowing the crowd to chant for an encore like all crowds love to do) and a tshirt change for Bouvier to finish off the night with a handful of their greatest hits, each and every one of them embraced wholeheartedly by the audience. Impressively Bouvier even made his way down to the sound desk to sing the chorus of ‘Crazy’ under a spotlight before re-joining the rest of the band for their final hit of the night, the angsty anthem to end all others ‘Welcome To My Life’.

While there are often negative connotations associated with anniversary tours (nothin but a cash grab) and some albums and bands should certainly be left to the annals of history the same could not be said of Simple Plan. With a performance that was as tight as it was entertaining the only criticism that one could possibly make is that their lighting was a little lackluster. Simple Plan tonight proved unequivocally that they are definitely here to stay and with promises to return to New Zealand as soon as possible and a new album already in the works, it looks like fans will able to rock out to a few more tours just yet.

Simple Plan performing live in Auckland, New Zealand 2018. Image by Doug Peters.

Were you there at the Powerstation for this energetic pop-punk show? Or have you seen Simple Plan perform live some other time? Tell us about it in the comments below!