If this topic already exists, feel free to lock and direct me to the write place to post this.


So this marks the first time I have ever gone to a concert and had seating. Honestly, I was a little sceptical about the experience in the stands, but thankful for the opportunity to go all the same. As we made our way into the seats (after much confusion with door numbers) we sat down and waited for Simple Plan to start their set. Never mind start, more like "get their set over and done with".



As far as pop punk goes, these little squirts are the worst of the lot. Awful lyrics sung by whiney voices, terrible guitar work and song structure topped off by having almost nil stage presence. Thankfully, we had a place that served hot chips a bit behind us, so we ducked off and got some and missed a chunk of their set (which sadly included a cover of The Darkness' I Believe In A Thing Called Love). After insulting the country by draping the Australian flag over the amp, they payed Perfect (which is far from it) and finally got off the stage, along with their whiny voices.

Shortly, the lights dimmed, and there was red all around. 3 figures ran onto the stage, taking their places at their appropriate instruments. Billy Joe (dressed in his American Idiot attire with black shirt and red tie) yelled out "Sydney!" in the mike and franticly started American Idiot. When the song kicked in, the crowd went insane. The song was tight and sounded great, and on the last note, fireworks went off, which was responded by a roar from the crowd.

Jesus of Suburbia was next, and that was played as tight as the song previous, and showcased Billy Joe's athleticism. Boy, that guy sure has stage presence. Jumping from one side to the other. Shaking his ass, slapping the crowd's hands, little shuffle walks, breakdancing, the man had it all. All the members of Simple Plan failed to capture what Mr Armstrong had.After this song, Billy started a mexican wave which was better than any wave I have seen at the cricket, possibly because there was a lack of beer in the air.

Interestingly, upon hearing the opening drums to St Jimmy, Billy Joe took off his guitar. He looked kind of naked, and the two session musos behind him were hidden in the darkness. Whatever doubt I had was blown away as he was even more frantic than before, sliding on his knees, thrusting his pelvis and holding notes for God knows how long. Hell, he went backstage and got a supersoaker, pulled out a kid from the crowd, and gave the gun to him. Billy got out another soaker and together they sprayed the mosh. Much respect for this man.

This is the point in the concert when I got a little worried, "Will they forget their back catalogue?". Surely they can't just play American Idiot for the whole concert. Nothing against the album, which is very good, but what about the classics?! Then I heard Mike's rumbling bass and I recognised the tune as the intro to Longview. The very first Greenday song I got into was blaring from the speakers. I was very happy at this point. Billy took the oppertunity to address the crowd telling us to mimic his voice. The crowd indeed mimic, until Billy shoved his hand down his pants and started to moan. Most of the people loved it and cheered their heart out.

To the best of my recollection, Basket Case followed, which was brilliant. PLenty of singing along here.

Then Billy faced one faced on side of the stadium and hit two sharp notes that sounded earily familiar.He then turned to the other side and hit the same two notes. "Where do I know those notes from?". After doing this several times, he faced my side of the stadium and the notes became chords, and I recognised it instantly. Brain Stew, my favourite Greenday song, blared out and I felt a chill down my back. The song was less grunt and more energy than it is on record, and it worked better for it. A definite highlight.

Bit of a blur from then on, although there are a few things more than worthy of a mention.

King for A Day (with sax and trumpet) was played so...the only word to describe it would be "big". Billy, without a guitar, was dressed in robe and crown and strutted all over. Suddenly, the trumpet player jumped on the catwalk and busted out the solo to "Shout!". And then Billy sung the words with him. They even did the "little bit quiter now" bits, and Billy and Mike fell to the ground. Mike did the chicken run in circles. When the song got "a little bit louder now", the whole crowd did the callback "Woah Ohhh Oh Oh" thing. It sounded fantastic.

They did the regular "get people from crowd to play the song" bit which worked fantastic, the drummer being the best, even pulling of out a solo. The fill in guitar player gave Billy a hig, and Billy one upped by kissing him on the lips. Funny stuff. Bass player was so-so. After the song, the guitarist got to keep the guitar, even though he said he was from Adelaide (much to the dismay of the crowd). The drummer did an awesome stage dive, and the crowd ate it all up.

Usual encore, and then we had Minority (which sounds sooo much better live),Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, When I come Around and then a rocking cover of Queen's We Are the Champions - arguably the best singalong song of the night. A touchy feely Good Riddance finished off the night and possibly the best concert I have attended.

Nice summary. :) I can certainly imagine Simple Plan being just as bad live as the shit they churn out on their albums. :P

I hate you. I wanted to see them too up here in brisbane but it sold out too quick. I've seen them at Livid and it was awsome. Got someone up to play guitar and afterwards was trying to get him to do a stage dive, Billy got the whloe crowd chanting "Fucking Dave." 'Twas awsome.

I gave my ticket away.

Why man? I mean, I know you don't like their new material and you have seen them before. But man...what a show. PLus, a decent chunk of the material was from Dookie.

Loaded Toaster would be steaming if he saw the shit being posted here.

I guess you answered your own question!

:P

But yeah, I have a number of other shows coming up that I would rather see, and the middle of the week thing makes it hard for me these days. Atreyu, Strung Out, Useless ID and Silverstein will give me my required live music fix for the next month or so.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the show!

Looks like Jawsy is mastering the quote button, finally.

I OWN that sucka. I just don't like to rub it in everyone's face. I'm just that type of guy, which is to say, the guy your girlfriend wants to fuck.