Review and photos by: Jordan Nathanso

As the world starts to try and heal from the shutdown, concerts around the world have been coming back, full force, around the world. Bands are back, celebrating either their returns or anniversaries with life long adoring fans. The Blame Canada tour, with co headliners Sum 41 and Simple Plan, is no different.

The night kicked off with Set It Off and their colorful performance. By colorful, I mean different color lights creating a rave setting, neon hair and makeup. Set If Off has brought more of a dance/electronic element to their new album “Welcome to Elsewhere”. It is no surprise that they have a huge following. When it come to catchy lyrics and music that fills your soul, Set It Off takes the cake. While performing, frontman/lead singer Cody Carson, never one let the energy drop. From running around the stage to getting everyone to jump, Carson knows how to reach the fans. Zach DeWall on guitar and Maxx Danziger on drums, the energy never dropped. The three members got the crowd screaming their lyrics back to them, especially during “Why Worry”. I admit, I lost my voice to that one. A beautiful performance and a great opener to this concert.

Following Set It Off was co headliner Simple Plan. When I was a teenager, Simple Plan was one of the bands that I had on repeat. A band that I begged to see when they would tour. A band that I would buy all of their CDs so I had them all for my collections. Out of the countless times I have seen them play, they never fail to make it feel like the first time. When you looked out to the crowd, you could see that this was filled mostly with those who are now (possibly) in their late 20s to maybe early 40s. Simple plan took the stage and showed us how much they truly enjoy being up there after all this time. Though celebrating the 20^th anniversary of No Pads. No Helmets…Just Balls, they kicked off their set with high energy playing “I’d Do Anything”. Though Simple Plan is celebrating a 20-year anniversary, they did release a new album, Harder Than It Looks, and still played a good mixer of songs from all of their albums. They are living proof that no matter how old you are, your favorite band will always make you feel as though you are discovering them for the first time. No matter how many times I have seen Simple Plan live, I still scream along to their songs. No matter how many times I hear them sing “Welcome to my Life”, I still cry. The fun does not stop there. Simple Plan surprised the crowd with a few nostalgic covers such as “All Star” by Smash Mouth, “Sk8ter Boi” by Avril Lavigne and “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. They also played “What’s New Scooby Doo”.  There was never a dull moment with Simple Plan.

To close the night, Sum 41 took the stage jumping right in to their hit song “Motivation”. They too are celebrating an album anniversary. Their first album All Killer No Filler is celebrating its 21^st anniversary. Just like Simple Plan, Sum 41 made their set filled with so much energy and songs from all their albums. In fact, they had so much energy, they blew the speakers and stopped mid song due to technical difficulties. As they played their songs, you could feel the angst radiating from the songs alone. They kind of punk rock that we used to lock ourselves in our rooms with when we felt it was us against the world. At one point during the night, the audience participation gave me chills as they sang the songs loud and proud. When Sum 41 played “Walking Disaster”, I could not help but tear up once again from all of the feelings that hit me at once. The entire crowd sang along and never missed a beat. Of course, the crowd never stopped moving when they played “In Too Deep”. That song is timeless. What really stirred the crowd was when they covered the ever-popular song “We Will Rock You” by Queen.

Overall, this concert is was the doctor ordered. The pandemic left us starving for a chance to break free from reality and just be “us” again. A chance to come together, as a community and release emotions that we held in at work or at home to the music that seems to understand us. This is Sum 41s first show since the world shut down and they put on one of the most memorable shows. Simple Plan and Set It Off also gave it their all and never dropped their energy. This tour continues in the U.S starting back up on July 29^th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The lineup will consist of co headliners Sum 41 and Simple Plan and opener Magnolia Park. This is one tour you do not want to miss.