Nostalgia Takes Over A Sold-Out Armory with Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan
I’ve been feeling burnt out lately. I could have had my week filled with some fantastic local shows. Instead, I spent the majority of my week just working and chilling. It’s not a bad thing. We all need a break sometimes, but it’s not like me to pass up on shows and opt to stay home. I needed a show to snap me out of me. I needed something to wow me and remind me why I chose to do this night after night with a smile on my face. Was Thursday night’s show at the Armory going to be the show to do it?
Things kicked off with girlfriends. I’m pretty sure I saw girlfriends years ago, but, honestly, I can’t find anything in my past posts about the shows or anything online, so maybe I’m just making that up. Regardless, I loved how this opening act kicked the night off by not holding anything back. This classic pop-punk band was started by Nick Gross and Travis Mills (FKA T. Mills) and is genuinely keeping the pop-punk vibe of the early 2000s alive. Their set on Thursday night was quick, but it packed a punch as the band powered through a set of nine songs that seemed to be banger after banger. Other than a super fun cover of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” girlfriends relied on their own catchy and anthemic bops to fill the giant venue and pulled it off. The band had me dancing along to the songs I knew, like “California” and “Jessica,” but also had me wanting to listen to some of the songs I didn’t recognize (like “Shut Up and Kiss Me” and “I Thought About You While I Was Taking a Shower”) on repeat. I know I have a lot of work to do today, but I see today becoming a giant girlfriends jam kind of day for me, and honestly, I’m not mad about that.
Where were you in 2002? Do you even remember? I was in middle school and distinctly remember snatching up Simple Plan’s debut album ‘No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls’ at my local record store, snickering at its title and then playing it repeatedly for years after. Honestly, I thought it was such a brilliant album. It had everything from emotion to fun to serious ballad-like tracks to songs that make you want to dance. I won’t say that this album changed my life, but I will say that that album, along with the following five albums from Simple Plan, are all staples in the daily playlist of my life, so to see this influential pop-punk band on Thursday night at the age of thirty-five was truly something special.
Even though this Quebec-born pop-punk band has been doing their thing for twenty-five years at this point, I can solidly say that they still have it. The band came out on the massive stage and jumped into a twelve-song set that showcased every side of the group. It started with the complete nostalgic bop of “I’d Do Anything” before moving onto a few covers and ending with an absolutely touching performance of their more ballad-like angsty teenage anthem, “Perfect.” Without being too cheesy, it was, in fact, “Perfect.” I loved how the band still sings the same words that relate more to a teenager than a middle-aged man with the same amount of gusto because, at the end of their day, their music is for the people, not for them. Again, I know it’s cheesy, but I think I just genuinely appreciate that this band has not changed. They do what they do, and they do it well, so why change it due to age? Even for us elder emos in the audience, it was still so fun to shout out the words to “I’m Just a Kid” even though, as the t-shirts at the merch table stated, “I’m Just an Adult” would be a bit more reasonable to be singing these days.
Where were you in 2002? Do you even remember? I was in middle school and distinctly remember snatching up Simple Plan’s debut album ‘No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls’ at my local record store, snickering at its title and then playing it repeatedly for years after. Honestly, I thought it was such a brilliant album. It had everything from emotion to fun to serious ballad-like tracks to songs that make you want to dance. I won’t say that this album changed my life, but I will say that that album, along with the following five albums from Simple Plan, are all staples in the daily playlist of my life, so to see this influential pop-punk band on Thursday night at the age of thirty-five was truly something special.
Even though this Quebec-born pop-punk band has been doing their thing for twenty-five years at this point, I can solidly say that they still have it. The band came out on the massive stage and jumped into a twelve-song set that showcased every side of the group. It started with the complete nostalgic bop of “I’d Do Anything” before moving onto a few covers and ending with an absolutely touching performance of their more ballad-like angsty teenage anthem, “Perfect.” Without being too cheesy, it was, in fact, “Perfect.” I loved how the band still sings the same words that relate more to a teenager than a middle-aged man with the same amount of gusto because, at the end of their day, their music is for the people, not for them. Again, I know it’s cheesy, but I think I just genuinely appreciate that this band has not changed. They do what they do, and they do it well, so why change it due to age? Even for us elder emos in the audience, it was still so fun to shout out the words to “I’m Just a Kid” even though, as the t-shirts at the merch table stated, “I’m Just an Adult” would be a bit more reasonable to be singing these days.
