I'm Just An Adult: A Bigger Than You Think! Tour Review
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To celebrate 25 years as a band, Simple Plan decided to invite some of their closest friends to share the stage for the Bigger Than You Think! Tour. A cool night thanks to the Lake Michigan breeze, with the Chicago skyline as the backdrop, made for an ideal summer show.
The evening was an upbeat mix of American and Canadian punk rock, starting with singer-songwriter LØLØ. Bringing her music videos to life, songs such as “debbie downer” and “DON’T!” gave the audience a chance to swing shiny red pom poms and dance with a silver robot. Her set was much more than a performance; it told a story. Sonically, sound effects strategically placed alongside the instrumentals felt as though the audience was transported into her own version of Oz. Her live band and she fought off invisible enemies, ducked past nonexistent flying objects and used every inch of the stage to bounce with the crowd.
Following LØLØ was 3OH!3, who paid homage to their Canadian tour mates by sporting head-to-toe denim ensembles.
“We are here for a formal event with some important people,” they said about their outfits before performing their latest single, “SLUSHIE”.
Their performance was just as chaotic as their music, in the best way possible. The audience consistently had their hands in the air, displaying the hand gesture synonymous with the duo. In addition to their new song, they performed classics such as “Double Vision”, “My First Kiss” and “Don’t Trust Me” supported by The Summer Set’s Jess Bowen on drums and Teenage Wrist’s Marshall Gallagher on guitar.
Instead of playing a traditional 40-minute set prior to the headliner, Bowling for Soup went full comedy troupe. There were inside jokes that interrupted song intros, callbacks on jokes about wearing Depends and spit take-worthy one liners (see: “I want to see your flashlights on your phone like we’re playing ‘Perfect’ by Simple Plan.” or “If their hands aren’t up they’re Green Bay Packers fans and they’re lactose intolerant.”).
Their setlist was chock-full of nostalgia, featuring “1985”, “Almost” and Phineas and Ferb theme song “Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day”. They also took a moment during “Punk Rock 101” to pose for photos, and continued the long-standing tradition of performing “Stacy’s Mom” after countless requests from people thinking it was their song and online misattributions. They were the masters of crowd work, and an excellent choice to hype up the crowd before Simple Plan.
As they were celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band, Simple Plan began their set with a trip down memory lane. Music video clips and behind-the-scenes tour footage of the last two decades flashed across the screen before the stage lit up to reveal Pierre Bouvier, Chuck Comeau, Jeff Stinco and Sébastien Lefebvre.
They made excellent use of the stage, combining visuals of graphics and lyrics to enhance the production. The band themselves were as entertaining as ever, regularly interacting with the crowd and giving them opportunities to be included in the performance. Dozens of audience members gathered on stage in Scooby Doo costumes and danced along to “What’s New Scooby Doo?”. Comeau crowd surfed during “I’m Just A Kid”. Bouvier played “Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?)” on piano in the middle of the crowd. There was not a moment where the crowd wasn’t fully immersed and engaged.
Simple Plan’s music - as well as the music of Bowling For Soup and 3OH!3 - has left a mark on a generation and continues to inspire new generations of artists such as LØLØ. With their biggest headlining show to date, Simple Plan just keeps getting better.
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