Simple Plan at O2 Kentish Town Forum, London, gig review: Emo rockers bring an epic onslaught of stage dives

Simple Plan perform at O2 Kentish Town Forum in London, 2017 (Chady Awad)

Canadian emo rockers, Simple Plan, brought their energetic, pumped up and occasionally ‘angsty’ sound to London’s Kentish Town Forum in front of a a sold out crowd as part of their ‘No Pads, No Helmets.. Just Balls’ tour.

Loud guitar riffs, giant beach balls and smoke machines, all staples of a good punk rock show, were all prevalent as the now veterans of the punk pop scene delivered a set comprising of their debut studio album from start to finish. Originally released in 2002, arguably when the emo/punk rock scene was at its peak, the album now in its 15th year is still heralded by some as the bands’ most accomplished piece of work.

This was nowhere more evident than in the audience reaction to the opening riff of ‘I’d Do Anything’ which clearly got the party started for the rest of the show. ‘The Worst Day Ever’ and ‘You Don’t Mean Anything’ followed as the band went through the track list.

The rendition of ‘Addicted’ one of their more famous tracks was followed by lead vocalist Pierre Bouvier delicately acknowledging the absence of bandmate David Desrosiers ("we still love him, he's still in the band") who is currently taking some time off to address issues around mental health.

‘My Alien’, ‘God Must Hate me’, ‘One Day’ and crowd favourite ‘Perfect’ all followed as an onslaught of stage dives, thrashing guitar and heavy baselines took over Kentish Town Forum much to the delight of those in attendance.

An encore consisting of tracks from the bands wider discography followed including; “Shut Up’, ‘Jump’, ‘Your Love Is a Lie’ and what has become an emo anthem, the angst ridden ‘Welcome to my Life’.

Simple Plan have been around for a while and they don’t look to be wanting to put the plectrums and sticks down just yet as Bouvier took to the mic to close the show: “We started making music 15 years ago and we’re going to keep making music and keep playing shows, because of you.”