Tonight is going to be fun!! Tonight Simple Plan return to Australia and they’ve brought along Boys Like Girls, We The Kings, and Jax to make the night even better. So let’s see how this night plays out…
Jax is our early opener tonight and with ‘90’s Kids’ she’s fun, and this fun! Followed by a fun song called ‘The Clap’ if you know you know (clap clap) but then she gives us her version of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ from Noelle’s point of view and that’s very clever and she is killing it. ‘The New Girl is a Snake’ is a groove and another slower one with ‘Adam Sandler’ was super cute. Closing with a song that went viral for her called ‘Victoria’s Secret’ and what a tune. Jax has a heap on energy, and her songs are cute and just have a vibe about them. Definitely glad so many were here early to catch her set.
Right on time We The Kings take the stage and with an “are you ready to party” they bust into ‘Skyway Avenue’ and what a way to start, full of energy and getting the crowd pumped this early is great to see. ‘She Takes Me High’ keeps things rolling and what a catchy little tune that was. With some “whoa ohs” they lead us into brand new song called ‘When We Were Young’ it was catchy and I look forward to hearing that one again. Some major crowd participation for ‘I Feel Alive’ was awesome to see, then continuing to win the crowd over with a cover of ‘Wonderwall’ was very clever. ‘Sad Song’ is lit up by everyone’s phones and looks pretty amazing, following that the full band returns to the stage for ‘Say You Like Me’ and man these guys can command a crowd. Closing their set with ‘Check Yes Juliet’ which I was very glad to hear as this is an absolute banger. Smashing it out and letting the crowd finish the song as they leave the stage. That was a great set!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Boys Like Girls so I’m excited to see them again. On a personal note they’ll always hold a special place in my heart as they were my first ever face to face interview many years ago. So I’m ready. Opening with ‘Love Drunk’ and they sound so good. What a perfect opener. As the last chord rings out they go straight into ‘Five Minutes To Midnight’ which was amazing this early and you remember just how catchy these songs are. They’re honestly wasting no time as they go straight into ‘Blood and Sugar’ a new one from the band and it fits in so well. There’s no time for a breath as ‘She’s Got a Boyfriend Now’ starts and another catchy tune that this band is full of and I’ve always loved this one and hearing it tonight is perfect including some amazing tambourine work from Martin. ‘Language’ starts as the other finishes and this is how you do it. Oh man I love this song so much better live, dang that’s awesome. Introductions and stats mid song were great and they round this one out immediately going California bound with ‘Heels Over Head’ and for the first time after this song the music finally stops. I gather so they can catch a breath as they have been on from the opener. Wow. Martin has an acoustic and even if we can’t hear it oh there we go he gives us an impromptu version of ‘Thunder’ as everything kicks back into full gear. Immediately into ‘Heart Heart Heartbreak’ is huge and a stand out so far. Damn they have this set sequenced so well, taking it straight into ‘I Can’t Stop Me’ which was a cool choice. ‘Miracle’ takes us back to their latest album and then ‘Hero/Heroine’ keeps things rolling taking us back to their debut as everyone helps sing that one out. ‘Be Your Everything’ is a big power ballad style song and I’m here for it. They keep the ballads rolling with ‘Two is Better Than One’ and they just sound so good in here tonight. Ha ha he faked out a Taylor Swift introduction which was awesome as she sang on the recorded version by the way if you didn’t know, and it’s great. ‘The Outside’ brings the rock back and these new tracks are bloody awesome. Time for the last one and it could only be ‘The Great Escape’ and it still stands up and kicks ass and bookending the set with a reprise of ‘Love Drunk’ that was a killer set from a band we are very happy to have back.
It’s been a little bit since Simple Plan have been in Australia and it’s so good to have them back tonight as they always put on an amazing show and I’m not expecting anything less tonight. Ok so the Star Wars theme blasts through the speakers and we’re ready as the band run on stage to a deserved cheer! Into ‘I’d Do Anything’ this is loud and tight, man I love these guys. They already have the crowd in the palm of their hands and this is going to be special tonight as we’ve had smoke and confetti cannons and it’s only song one!! ‘Shut up!’ Keeps things rolling and as you’d expect this was lovingly yelled back to the stage. Seb starts off ‘Jump’ and the floor is doing just that and it’s obvious that Simple Plan have written these songs with the live show in mind and they absolutely smash these out. The tempo stays up for ‘You Suck At Love’ and then goes mid tempo for ‘Your Love is a Lie’ with the band bathed in red lights this one sounds huge tonight. A quick chat and letting Jeff shred for a minute is awesome then he hits the riff for ‘Addicted’ and the old school stuff if awesome, they stay there for ‘Welcome To My Life’ and these songs have so many sing along parts and this one doesn’t disappoint in that at all. Bringing Jax back on stage to sing ‘Iconic’ and this is huge. What a song. We move to ‘Summer Paradise’ with beach balls flying everywhere that’s always fun, but they move away from the summer vibes to the rockin’ ‘Take My Hand’ and that one kicked some ass! Things really slow down for the first time with ‘Astronaut’ which was a crowd pleaser, and then oooh this one is a hook and a half! ‘A Million Pictures Of You’ I like this one! Man they are tight, they aren’t missing a note tonight. Some super old school tracks with a ‘Grow up’ and ‘Vacation’ medley and that was a whole lot of fun.
Time for a lot more fun with a few covers that included ‘All Star’, ‘Sk8er Boi’, and ‘Mr Brightside’ which of course got everyone fired up. Then it’s ‘What’s New Scooby Doo?’ And a whole lot of Scooby’s are on stage and that was weirdly awesome. ‘Where I Belong’ rips things up with We The Kings and that was great. The band leave the stage for a well deserved break. Albeit for only a couple of minutes.
Yes! My favourite Simple Plan song is up, it’s ‘Jet Lag’ and I’m happy. That is such an amazing song and live is always so damn great. Those harmonics start and we’re going ‘Crazy’ and this is probably my second favourite track of theirs and so happy it got a little bit before they medley in ‘Perfect World’, ‘Save You’, and ‘This Song Saved My Life’ which was a cool way to showcase their catalogue by throwing these snippets in. That’s different, some Angels with ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ and you can imagine how that went ha ha. Just a little bit of the song for us before ‘I’m Just a Kid’ starts and all the phones go up to capture this 22 year old song wow. It’s still such a banger. Grabbing a few people out of the crowd for a group photo and Chuck and Pierre switch places and Chuck gets down and in the crowd which was awesome.
With an acoustic Pierre gives us an amazing version of ‘Untitled’ and is joined by Jeff to drive it home. Then the obvious closer of ‘Perfect’ starts acoustic before exploding as the band rejoin Pierre. There’s confetti, smoke, streamers, the whole place is exploding with the fun that Simple Plan deliver on stage, and tonight in Sydney in front of a sold out crowd (the whole tour is by the way) they showed they still have it, and that it’s not going anywhere.
Essential Information
Venue: The Hordern Pavilion
Date: April 13, 2024
Presented by: Destroy All Lines
