Author Archives: Dominika

PHOTOS: Simple Plan kicked off U.S. tour with a free show at Iowa University

AUTHOR: Dominika | 1. October 2016 | 1 comment

Simple Plan made a grand return to the United States, where they are about to head back on a tour across the country, starting with a couple of festival appearances. The very first appearance took place last night, September 30th at the grounds of the Iowa University, where hundreds of (not only) local students gathered to the witness a free Simple Plan show.

From the reactions on social media, we can tell that the show surely brought lots of nostalgia to all the kids who grew up on MySpace and went through the typical emo phase of the 00’s, which undeniably also included listening to Simple Plan.

Check out some of the first photos from this concert in the gallery:

Check out where Simple Plan are heading out next in the U.S. here.

Jeff’s hands to be featured in a special new charitable book project

AUTHOR: Dominika | 1. October 2016 | 1 comment

For a couple years now, Dr. Jean-Paul Brutus, a Belgic hand and wrist surgeon, currently residing in Canada, has been trying to put together a project that would connect his admiration of hands as a tool of everyday communication and also his desire to help people with mental health issues. What came out of this project is a book entitled “Tendre La Main” (“Helping Hands”) that will soon be available for purchase, which is a collection of a number of beautiful photographs of over 40 personalities from the Quebec area, focusing on their hands and all the work and communication they allow them to make happen. Among these personalities were for example singer Marie-Mai, professional boxer Jean Pascal or Simple Plan’s lead guitarist Jeff Stinco.

“The hand, that sophisticated instrument that allows us to accomplish a multitude of tasks and achievements, is also a tremendous tool for provising support, mutual help and solidarity. The expressions “taking someone by the hand”, “lending a helping hand” , “providing a hand”, “having your heart in your hand” are great illustrations of that wonderful quality. Helping Hands (Tendre La Main) is a tribute to the beauty of people’s hands and to the philantropic commitment of forty or so Quebec personalities as well as about fifteen Montreal photo artists.”

All proceeds of the sale of this book, which was put together solely on volunteer basis, will be used to support the activities of the Les Impatients Foundation, which assists people sufferring from mental health issues through artistic expression.

Below you can watch a short video presentation of this project, which also shows us the first picture of Jeff’s involvement with the project (which you can also see at the top of this post). One more image from the making of this photoshoot can be found in the gallery.

More information about the Tendre La Main project can be found here.

Simple Plan to perform at two U.S. charitable events in support of breast cancer research

AUTHOR: Dominika | 27. September 2016 | 1 comment

With the upcoming month of October being the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an cannual international ampaign to increase awareness of this disease, Simple Plan will try to help out in their own way by taking part in two charitable events. The band has just announced that after they finish touring in the United States, the boys will not head back home immediately but will travel first to Ohio and then Kentucky, to perform at two local events in support of breast cancer research.

The first event, Concert For A Cure, will be taking place on October 19th in Dayton, OH and is organised by the local radio station Mix 107.7. Besides Simple Plan, the attendees will also be able to chck out A Great Big World, Ben Rector or Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. The proceeds from this event will benefit the Noble Circle project, which supports women diagnosed with cancer.

Two days later, on October 21st, Simple Plan will head to Louisville, KY, where they (and also again A Great Big World) are scheduled to play at The Pink Prom, put together by the local radio 102.3 The Max. This event will benefit the James Graham Brown Cancer Center and its cancer research.

More details about these two events can be found below:

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Simple Plan revealed artwork for new single ‘Perfectly Perfect’

AUTHOR: Dominika | 27. September 2016 | no comments

After weeks of the fact that ‘Perfectly Perfect’ was Simple Plan’s third single of Taking One For The Team was just an information confirmed in various interviews, the band has officially stepped in and announced their new single yesterday. And with that they also showed their fans for the first time what the artwork that will be accompanying the single looks like.

Simple Plan decided to use this Chady Awad’s gorgeous picture from the show in Paris, France (March 13th 2016) for the artwork of ‘Perfectly Perfect’, which perfectly fits the feel of the song itself.

Check it out:

Besides that, Pierre, Chuck, Jeff all decided to write about the song’s lyrical meaning in their Instagram posts yesterday. As you can see, there is not just one clear meaning behind the song, but there’s more. Let Pierre, Chuck and Jeff explain to you better what ‘Perfectly Perfect’ is about:

“Perfectly Perfect is about being in love with someone and seeing beauty in every part of them, even the parts they don’t like about themselves. People tend to focus too much on their flaws. When we see a picture of ourselves we tend to comment on the things we hate, when in reality nobody really notices, especially when you love the person. All the little “flaws” become things that make you special and different. Most of us in the band are now married or in long term relationships and this song was definitely inspired by that. For me personally, the song really reminds me of my wife. I know she has plenty of things about herself that she would like to change, but those are all the things that make her who she is and I love her.” – Pierre

“I would add that I hope this songs helps people feel better about who they are. I know physical appearance can be a huge insecurity for a lot of us. We wrote this song because a lot of times, these insecurities and fears are not rooted in reality. They are caused by a warped perception of ourselves and how the world sees us. I know this because I wrestle with the same thing all the time, just like everyone. I don’t care how good looking someone is, deep inside there’s always something that bugs them about how they look, about their body or how they think people look at them and judge them. We create all these doubts in our minds and we carry that weight around with us and it’s not healthy. It really breaks my heart when a fan tells me they don’t want to take a picture with me “because they look like shit right now” or when I see fans’ photos posted with their faces covered or hidden. I hope music can help some of you feel better and deal with all the hardships life can bring. I dedicate this song to all our fans who have to live with these type of insecurities on a daily basis. We write music for you. We love you and we want you to be happy and proud of who you are. You’re perfectly perfect to us.” – Chuck

“There are a lot of things going on in Simple Plan world this week but one of the things I care the most about is the release of our new single, “Perfectly Perfect”. Chuck and Pierre wrote some very nice thoughts about the meaning of the song. I’d like to add that this song has a special meaning to me: being a compulsive perfectionist, I’m just starting to realize that part of beauty lies in its imperfection. I make mistakes while playing music and sometimes they become magical moments. My little ones do really dumb things sometimes that turn into happy accidents. My relationships are complex and imperfect yet they fill my life with so much joy. I often meet fans that are conscious about themselves: my dad always used to say that I won the first race of life (you know, the one in your mother’s belly?) and that this clearly made me unique, special, incredible, spectacular. We all won the first race of our lives. This weekend, someone asked me how it felt to have fans look at me with so much passion: I answered that I felt the love deeply and that I felt the responsibility to give back. I give back through music and through the time I spend talking with you guys (and girls). It might sound cheesy but I mean it: you guys are imperfectly perfect to me ;-) lots of love.” – Jeff

Simple Plan U.S. tour: what can we expect?

AUTHOR: Dominika | 26. September 2016 | no comments

After 5 long years, Simple Plan are finally returning to the USA for a full cross-country tour. And while some might object that the tour is hardly a “full” tour, as the band is missing many of the states or bigger cities, this two week trip is still the biggest tour Simple Plan have done in this country since 2011.

You may recall that last time SP were touring in the U.S., it was the fall of 2011, when the band toured the U.S. with Forever The Sickest Kids, The Cab, Marianas Trench and also We The Kings. Since then, Simple Plan have returned to the U.S. only for Warped Tour in 2015 and with a couple of acoustic promo radio performances in the summer of 2013 and this year, 2016.

This time around, Simple Plan will be touring the U.S. with opening bands Hit The Lights and Story Untold, but before this full October tour commences, the boys will perform a free show at the University of Iowa this Friday, September 30th, on Saturday, October 1st they will take part in the Barktoberfest in Kansas City, KS (also for free) and the next day, October 2nd Simple Plan will be welcomed at the Oro Music Valley Festival in Tuscon, AZ. After these three shows, Simple Plan will be very much prepared for their U.S. audience and will be ready to officially start their U.S. tour on October 4th in Santa Ana, CA.

At this moment, two of the shows (West Hollywood, CA and New York, NY) are completely sold-out and Simple Plan also just revealed that all of the VIP pizza parties have sold-out as well. But – here’s some good news – if you didn’t manage to score VIP tickets for any of the shows, Simple Plan just announced that they added 10 spots to the following U.S. dates: Santa Ana, LA, Sacramento, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit and Cleveland. So you still have a chance to get in! So go get them quickly before those are gone as well!

And what can we expect from the shows? It is quite possible that the U.S. may get a slightly different setlist than the rest of the world, as the band’s earlier albums have been more favored (or received more attention – such as No Pads or SNGA) than their later efforts (self-titled or GYHO). That means there will probably be more throwback songs alongside tracks from the new album (TOFTT) which the boys will definitely want to promote. Regarding the party medley, there seems to be no indication that the band would want to change it up anytime soon and as the songs they have chosen for it have been popular in the U.S. just like in the rest of the world, the U.S. fans may also expect to hear these covers of ‘Uptown Funk’ and ‘Can’t Feel My Face’.

If you’re heading out on Simple Plan’s U.S. tour, make sure to follow SimplePlan.cz for all the recaps in the following weeks – surely we will have the setlist available very soon as well as pictures from the shows and hopefully will know of any cool surprises the band still might have in store for the fans. Also, if you take any pictures during the shows or would like to let us know about any happenings at the concerts that other fans might be interested in, let us know [on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or e-mail]!

More information about all the upcoming Simple Plan tourdates can be found here.