As I approach the venue I’m quite surprised when I see a really long queue around Les Docks. I never really had to stay in line for one of the concerts held at the venue. Of course I knew the show was sold out but I hadn’t imagined this. I guess we all decided to come pretty much at the same time, so this is why I missed the first opening band The Bottom Line. But let’s see what Ghost Town and Simple Plan offered the audience!

8:40-9:15pm Ghost Town 

Ghost Town is a band from L.A., they play a punk rock mixed with electronica and screamo at times. Powerful guitar riffs which are definitely harder than the sound of Simple Plan. The singer has a cool voice which he uses also to go higher with the notes. They are engaging and although mostly the people in the middle react they keep the audience entertained.

9:35-11pm Simple Plan 

Canadian band Simple Plan are singer Pierre Bouvier, guitarist Sébastien Lefebvre, Bassist Jeff Stinco, drummer Chuck Comeau and guitarist David Desrosiers. The last time I saw them was something like 8 years ago. They haven’t changed much, they still look like teenagers and they have the same undeniable energy!

They start the gig with, “Opinion Overload”, a new song which unveils their old sound: guitar riffs and powerful drums beats. Their punk rock nuanced with pop, topped with Pierre Bouvier’s ever green young voice invites you to join in in the singing and jumping. They have lyrics in which most adolescents (younger and older) can identify and which are quite easy to remember which make them a great sing along band!

They continue with “Jet Lag”, another newer song, I never identified in the song so much as I am indeed a bit jet lagged but it’s great fun to sing along to!

Simple Plan, as singer Pierre Bouvier states during the gig, have been around for 15 years, and he takes this occasion to thank the fans for making this possible.  The show is an effective mix between old and newer songs, pumped with their never changing energy and friendliness. It’s clear that the relationship to the audience is one of the most important things for the band. They want the public to have fun and to share their fun.

Simple Plan come from Montreal, Québec, so the most interactions they have during the gig is in French with that cute little accent. They also make the fans laugh as they imitate the Vaud accent and the words the Swiss French use. They talk a lot through the show and are great with the audience, they haven’t changed that side, it’s still as great as I remember! It’s impressive how bands from your teen years remain stuck in your head. I haven’t listened to them in a while I have to admit, but I still know by heart their older songs.

They get everybody jumping with the third song “Jump”, an hymn to jump and forget the problems. They truly make every single person jump, they are very engaging and it is so much fun. Towards the en of it they do a short medley of “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas.

 

When they play their most well known song “Welcome to My Life”, suddenly many phones are in the air recording the moment, hands in the air and waving. Everybody’s singing along, this song really brings me back to my teen years I must have listened to it a million times or more…

They play a medley of Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” and The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face” both very well sung and played. Pierre says “we love you Lausanne”, adding that they should come during the Summer to introduce the song “Summer Paradise” and suddenly a few big red and white beach balloons are released over the audience. They bump here and there over the fans’ heads. They’ve already played at Les Docks, I wonder where I was because I’ve apparently missed them!

They also promote their new album Take One For The Team which came out on February 19th 2016, among other songs, they play the single “Farewell” taken from it, an dynamic mix of guitar riffs. A sound which is maybe less pop than their previous album and more similar to the first albums.

“I’m Just a Kid” is the last song before the encore, another old song which adolescents of today and yesterday sing along with passion, with the backing vocals widening the sounds.

They come back highly acclaimed and play a few more songs. The sweet “Perfect World” is one fo the last songs, Pierre is on the guitar alone as he starts playing and singing with his soft voice. He is joined by the rest of the band half way through the song and suddenly the acoustic song is transformed into a pop rock anthem as the guitar riffs and the drums beats join in.

They bid goodbye blowing kisses and thanking the audience from the bottom of their hearts. A concert which definitely brought us back in time, thank you Simple Plan for these good memories 🙂

Setlist:

Opinion Overload
Jet Lag
Jump / I Gotta Feeling
I’d Do Anything
Boom
The Rest of Us
Welcome To My Life
Take My Hand
Kiss Me Like Nobody’s Watching
Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars cover)
Can’t Feel My Face (The Weeknd cover)
Can’t Keep My Hands Off You
Summer Paradise
Farewell
Crazy
I’m Just A Kid
Shut Up (encore)
Perfect World (encore)
Astronaut (encore)
Perfect (encore)

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert