On Thursday night, August 10th, Simple Plan finally returned on tour after 6 weeks of time off at home. The band performed for the first time in La Tuque, QC, Canada at the Jeudis Centre-Ville festival for over 8 000 people.
Before the show officially kicked off at 9pm, Simple Plan took part in a press conference at Jeudis Centre-Ville for the local press and answered some of the journalists’ questions. As only 4 out of 5 members of Simple Plan were present at this event a question about how the band is dealing with their fifth member, David Desrosiers, not being on tour, was on everybody’s mind. Previously, David confirmed that he would not be attending neither the U.S., nor the Canadian part of the tour this August and September, as he battles depression.
Chuck adressed this by saying:
“David is getting better, he’s going through a pretty tough time right now … for David, it’s a bit more tough, but we support him 100 %. What we want is to get back into shape. We think he’s going to be able to, but right now it’s a little too early to come back. At the moment, we do the shows as a four-piece but he remains a member of the band. We talk with him frequently to see how he’s doing and we think he should be able to come back on stage with us as soon as possible.”
“We are friends first and foremost and I think that when you have a friend who is going through more difficult times, the only thing you can do is to support him and give him all the time he needs.”
– Chuck Comeau –
On their social media, besides their official statement, some members of the band also decided to dedicate a post to David, letting the world – and David himself – know how much they miss him on tour, yet how much they support his decision and want him to get better. Check out what Pierre and Chuck wrote below:
“Starting up another tour without David. It’s not the same without you brother but take your time and get well. We got your back, always. Love ya.”
– Pierre Bouvier –
“David – I got your back my friend and I can’t wait to rock with you again!”
– Chuck Comeau –
Check out more images from the backstage and the press conference of Jeudis Centre-Ville in the gallery:
