Simple Plan Delivers an Evening of Lake-Side Pop-Punk Nostalgia in Chicago
By Colette Custin Bevard
Canadian pop-punkers Simple Plan made a triumphant return to Chicago on a beautiful lakefront Sunday night with their “Bigger Than You Think” tour, which lived up to its name in all ways—a lengthy, career-spanning setlist, a massive stage that sported new animations for every song, and the biggest headlining crowd the band had ever played to in Chicago.
The moment was not lost on vocalist Pierre Bouvier, who took every chance he got to thank the crowd and smile at the grandeur of it all.
“Is Chicago ready to jump?” He screamed before launching into the song of the same, and tunes like opener “I’d Do Anything,” “Addicted,” and “Thank You” had fans of all ages bouncing up and down. Simple Plan’s music is inherently uplifting, and when the night gave way to ballads like “Untitled” (for which Bouvier played piano on a satellite stage, proving that the band is most certainly ready for arenas) and “Welcome to My Life,” the crowd responded in kind with singalongs and lighters. The show had its blatantly silly moments that were just as much fun, too, like when dozens of Scooby-Doo clad kids joined the band onstage for their rendition of “What’s New, Scooby Doo?” And what could have been more perfect than Bowling For Soup’s Jaret Reddick joining Bouvier on vocals for “I’m Just A Kid”?
Speaking of Bowling for Soup, vocalist/guitarist Jaret Reddick and bassist Rob Felicetti delivered hooks and laughs for miles during their forty-minute opening set. “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” led things off, followed by singalongs “High School Never Ends” and “Ohio,” all complete with breakdowns of some sort that saw Reddick having the time of his life, whether it was getting the crowd to sing along or riffing with Felicetti about his vocals.
“There are many things about us online that aren’t true,” Reddick said toward the end of the set. “And of all of them, this is the biggest one - this is not our song.” The band proceeded to play a near-perfect cover of “Stacy’s Mom” by the late great Fountains of Wayne, and it fit right in alongside the band’s biggest hit “1985.”
Leading things off in the evening hours were rap/electro-duo 3Oh!3 delivered a high-energy set that got the crowd on their feet from the start, jumping and shouting along with the choruses to “My First Kiss” and “DONTTRUSTME,” and rising indie-pop superstar L0L0 showed off just why she’s becoming such a big deal with catchy new single “The Devil Wears Converse,” “Hot Girls in Hell,” and raucous opener “Faceplant.”
