REVIEW: Simple Plan
- Posted on January 29, 2008 5:00 PM
- 0 comments
Simple Plan
The Camden Takeover
The Electric Ballroom - London
27th January 2008
Review by Katie Spain
Some bands struggle to play two gigs in a day, let alone three. US Rockers, Simple Plan however, laughed in the face of Camden yesterday, when they played a duo of venues in North London.
After an afternoon spent recovering from Australia Day celebrations, my head wasn’t ready for the onslaught ahead. Two Seatwave reviewers covered the lunchtime acoustic gig at the tiny Camden Barfly, and the marginally bigger Underworld gig at 3:30pm. Hell, if I was tired… what state was the band in?
As the day progressed, the reports hitting my mobile phone were frenzied and positive. “You’re going to love the gig tonight – they were amazing this morning!”.
Anticipation wasn’t just rife in my corner of the train… the streets of Camden were heaving too. Some eager punters had been queuing outside the Electric Ballroom since 6am and others had trekked over Europe to be there.
The line that snaked its way up Camden High Road throbbed with an eclectic mix of fans. Girls in tutus, journos, pierced bits aplenty, dads escorting minors, empty vodka bottles and painfully fashionable boys rearranging their side swept locks. It was the liquorish allsorts of line-ups – each punter ready for the mother of all gigs.
They got it too. From the upper regions of the venue, the view over the tightly-packed revellers was gasp-inducing. A chanted request soon became a demand; “Simple Plan, Simple Plan, Simple Plan”. The heaving crowd wanted ‘a feed’; and when the band finally appeared, they delivered a feast.
Under the suitably simplistic lighting, the five band mates thrashed out a set the crowd won't forget anytime soon. The transition between old and new material went unnoticed - such was the consistently enthusiastic response from the crowd. The wall of sound that met our ears was layered with addictive hooks, gut wrenching riffs, raw, heart-wrenching vocals and an overwhelming amount of energy.
‘Take My Hand’, ‘Addicted’, ‘Shut Up’, ‘Jump’ and ‘Your Love Is a Lie’ whip up the masses. Hands reach towards the sky and a bodies rock in unison. I’ve seen kangaroos that bounce less than this eager band… and the manic moshers gazing up at them rocked along ‘til their carefully sculpted locks (and battered brains) dislodged completely.
“Let’s take it up a notch” screamed Pierre Bouvier as the band launched into ‘God Must Hate Me’. The crowd relaxed momentarily for the opening of new love tune ‘I Didn’t Wait Forever’ – their singing hero framed by a single spotlight. As the guitars kicked in, couples stopped, mid-snog to join in the fun.
Their new album got an absolute plastering – its musical highlights flung about with confident ease. ‘Time To Say Goodbye’, ‘You Don’t Mean Anything’ and ‘Your Love Is A Lie’ go down a treat. The juicy preview morsels released on the internet must have worked some magic. The fans knew every catchy chorus there. It’s hard to fault this gig… and although the band later told me there were a few technical hiccups behind the scenes, it went unnoticed on the frontline.
God may hate them but this is a band that connects with their audience through lyrics they can relate to and through five passionate and energetic showmen. If this gig was a sign of things to come, the upcoming album release and much awaited UK tour will be a highlight of 2008’s music calendar. From distant observer to full-blown admirer, I’ll be sure to scratch the dates into my own dog-eared diary. I suggest you do the same. It’s simple really.
Related links:
Simple Plan tickets.
Simple Plan official site.
Simple Plan MySpace.
Stay tuned for our Simple Plan video interview!
FYI interest, the complete Camden Takeover included:
- 30 minute set of songs taken from No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls at the Barfly
- An acoustic set of tracks from Still Not Getting Any at the Underworld
- And finally a full-on, plugged-in electric performance at the Electric Ballroom
Check out some footage from the big event:
Simple Plan - Camden Takeover [Teaser]
Simple Plan Camden - Windows Media
Simple Plan Camden Takeover - Real Media
Tags
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2595
