LIVE: SIMPLE PLAN – Perth, Western Australia, 6 April 2024

LIVE: SIMPLE PLAN – Perth, Western Australia, 6 April 2024
With Jax, We The Kings & Boys Like Girls – Club Metropolis
Review & Photography by Luke Baker

Simple Plan kicked off their Australian tour at Metro City in Perth for the first of two back-to-back sold-out shows. It would seem that Pop Punk is not dead – after selling out the Sunday show, the Saturday show was added, and I arrived to a line around the corner and up the street. The punters were in early to watch Jax open the show. The gig started with “90s kids” which had the crowd reminiscing on their youth. They finished their set with the popular “Victoria’s Secret”.

Next up was We The Kings who kept up the energy, ripping through their set including “When We Were Young”, “Sad Song”, “Skyway Avenue” and of course “Check Yes Juliet” to warm up the vocal chords.

If We The Kings didn’t do the job, then Boys Like Girls certainly did. The set opened with “Love Drunk” to immediately get the crowd hyped and although the band has changed their look, nothing has changed when it comes to delivering a high paced pop punk set. They blended songs from their back catalogue seamlessly with their new album “Sunday at Foxwoods”, the band’s first album in over a decade. Although the album has an 80s synth vibe, they engaged with the crowd by mixing classic Boys Like Girls tracks into the setlist – “Dance Hall Drug” and “She’s Got a Boyfriend Now” – with newer songs off the new album such as “Blood and Sugar” and “Language”. They finished with “The Great Escape”, including a touch of “Love Drunk” to close the set how it began.

Finally, the moment every thirty-something crowd member was waiting for – Canadian Pop-Punk kings Simple Plan hit the stage to a huge roar. They opened their set with “I’d do anything”, kicking off a fast paced show as you would expect. Smoke cannons and confetti dominated the first few songs creating a fun atmosphere. Frontman Pierre Bouvier took his time to thank the crowd for coming in as many different languages as he could, noticing the demographic of the audience to be fairly multicultural. They launched into “Summer Paradise”, a fitting song for our unusually warm Autumn weather with everyone inside feeling the heat. Giant beach balls added to the fun.

The pace slowed right down just in time for a breather with “Astronaut” and “Million Pictures of You”, before blasting back into party mode with “What’s New Scooby Doo” where a bunch of audience members were set loose on stage in dog costumes. This drew the show to a close with the obligatory “one more song” chants by the 4000 strong crowd.

The encore segment started with “Jet Lag”, before closing the set with “I’m Just a Kid” and an acoustic crossover of “untitled” and “Perfect”, drawing a close on an unreal night of Pop Punk.

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries