Category Archives: articles

Review and photos from Festivent

by Dominika | Aug 10th, 2010 | no comments

From the last few posts you already know that Simple Plan played on the canadian festival called Festivent last Friday. Cyberpresse.ca posted a very nice review of this show (thanks to Sab for the English translation), which was attended by almost 40 000 people! Apart from the article, you can also check out in our gallery first photos from this show.

Almost 40.000 jubilant people cheered Simple Plan at Festivent, at Saint Jean-Chrysostome, last Friday and the band from Montreal delivered its package with its candy-pop-punk but always effective.

Much more pop than punk, despite the insertion of the “Hey ho, Let’s go” just like the Ramones, in the song Generation which started the show, the guys from Simple Plan gave the predominantly teenager crowd all their favourite songs.

Still nice and charismatic, the singer Pierre Bouvier who seemed to hold the crowd in his hand, had no difficulties making people participate, raising their arms in the air during Shup Up! or jumping up and down during Jump, two famous songs from the album Still Not Getting Any.

Apparently happy to present another show in Quebec after a stop in New Richmond, Bouvier and the bass player David Desrosiers, who was dressed of an odd white suit, were fully devoted, joking and communicating with their fans between the songs.

“Tonight you should be a part from the band Simple Plan, with us!” said Bouvier just before he invited people to count to 4 in order to launch the song Addicted. Later, Desrosiers reminded that it was in Saint-Jean Chrysostome that he had his first parachute jump.

Bouvier and his group also took the opportunity of this show to test the song You Suck At Love, which will be included in the next album, keeping their famous hits I’d Do Anything, I’m Just a Kid and Crazy for the end of the evening, once the sun set.

Review of Simple Plan’s show in New Richmond

by Dominika | Jul 26th, 2010 | no comments

Source: Cyberpresse.ca

A new article about Simple Plan’s show in New Richmond appeared on canadian news server Cyberpresse.ca. Apart from the show review, you can also find there an interview with David, where you will learn for example who influenced David the most during his childhood and also a very surprising mention about a show in Korea, which should, according to this article, happen on August 8th, even though this show has not been confirmed anywhere else. Here is the English translation of this French article (thanks to Sab):

If it had been possible to canalize the energy coming from the crowd during the third show of the Festival d’Été of Quebec, in New Richmond; Gaspésie wouldn’t need electricity from wind turbines for several days.

At least 10 000 people (a rough assessment since the exact number of spectators is not released yet) attended to the show of Béta, The New Cities and, especially, Simple Plan.

The more bands hit the stage, the more the intensity of the crowd’s screams got louder.

When Simple Plan appeared around 9:30pm, it was almost madness, especially because of the young girls. Songs like Shut Up and Jump led the 16-songs-long show, beside the encore. The band played the brand new song You Suck @ Love for the first time in Quebec.

The bass player David Desrosiers made the crowd a little more impatient to see Simple Plan by coming to play drums with The New Cities, whose band members introduced him as “the Matane shrimp”.

Interviewed at the Soleil between two shows, David Desrosiers from Matane indeed, explained that the drums used to be his favourite instrument. “I play in studio, sometimes in rehearsals.” Yesterday evening he was well surrounded since his Mom and some of friends from Matane were in the crowd.

“I have two good friends here, Francis Harrison and Olivier Desbiens, who played in my first bands.”

He is actually about to have some holidays in Matane soon. “I live in Montreal, on the Plateau, I love the city, but I also love to take days off in order to breathe the air from Bas-du-Fleuve.”

Matane is also a way to be back among several members of his family and memories of his paternal grandpa, Jean-Yves, who has been a big source of influence in his career choice, even if he passed 10 years ago. Moreover, he saluted his influence in front of cameras, at the ADISQ gala, four years ago.

“His musical talent was indescribable. He played the piano, sang during the mass. My father [an athlete] uses to say that the musical talent skipped a generation in the family; from Jean-Yves to me.”

David Desrosiers and Simple Plan were in China one week ago. “The show was cancelled because of the rain. But we played for the fans, under the police’s escort”, he said.

On August 6th , Simple Plan will be in Levis, before they perform in… Korea, on the 8th, despite the fact that the trip wastes two days. “I know, this is crazy.”

Tonight, the Festival d’Été of Quebec in New Richmond ends its programming with Vincent Valliere and Blue Rodeo.

Review of SP’s show on Bamboozle Roadshow

by Dominika | Jul 4th, 2010 | 5 comments

Source: The Sun Chronicle

American online journal The Sun Chronicle posted a review of the last show of all the bands, who took part in this year’s Bamboozle Roadshow in Mansfield, on June 27th. Here you check out a pretty positive paragraph from this article, which describes Simple Plan’s performance in Mansfield:

“Thirty-something Canadian rockers Simple Plan blithely threw themselves – Peter Pan style – into the youthful spirit of the concert. Hopping and spinning wildly around the stage in baggy cargo shorts and skate shoes, lead singer Pierre Bouvier and his bandmates looked and sounded as if time had not touched them since their debut album over 10 years ago. And judging by the warm, shrieking welcome from the audience, directionless suburban angst is immortal – or at least has a very long life. The band successfully channelled teenage drama in a set filled with sulky, self-pity anthems like “Welcome to My Life” and “I’m Just a Kid,” becoming briefly more serious about child-parent relations in the unexpectedly poignant “Perfect.” High points of the set included flailing solos by lanky drummer Chuck Comeau and the expertise of lead guitarist Jeff Stinco – though these elements were all too frequently overshadowed by Madden’s bluster.”

MOTH is moving to Virgin Radio 96 Montreal

by Dominika | Mar 20th, 2010 | no comments

The latest episode of Man Of The Hour Hour, which aired on Thursday was the last MOTH episode aired on idobi radio, which hosted this show for 4 years. But don’t worry – this is NOT the end for Man Of The Hour – it’s only moving to another radio station – particularly to Virgin Radio 96 Montreal, where the MOTH show will air from March 21st every Sunday from 9pm to 10pm EST (of course it will also be released as a podcast to download afterwards).

Don’t forget that the last MOTH on idobi radio re-runs today from 3pm EST. So don’t forget to tune in on your iTunes!

Sebastien and Patrick informed about this big change few days ago in their latest blog:

Man of the Hour show on VIRGIN RADIO

..It’s true.

The Man of the Hour show is moving. After 4 years on Idobi internet Radio, we are gonna start doing this show on Virgin Radio right here in Montreal.

The show will air on Sunday nights at 9PM EST till 10PM.

DON’T WORRY! You can still tune in live to listen right here http://montreal.virginradio.ca/player and the show, as always, will be turned into a podcast. Just stay tuned for more details on that.

That’s it! This is really big news.

We love you all!!

Pat & Seb

Also, the new radio station that will from now on air the MOTH show – Virgin Radio 96 Montreal – published an interesting article about Patrick’s and Sebastien’s radio show. Here you can check it out:

Source: Virgin Radio 96 Montreal

For over 3 years now, Simple Plan’s Sebastien Lefebvre and long-time friend Patrick Langlois from MusiquePlus have teamed up to create Man Of The Hour, a new music podcast available on iTunes. Through their extensive knowledge of music and obvious camaraderie, Sebastien and Patrick fill up the Man Of The Hour Show with fun, facts and the best new music.

With over 200,000 downloads per podcast episode it was only a matter of time before the guys kicked it up a notch and took things to another level: terrestrial radio!

Starting March 21st, The Man of the Hour show will be presented weekly on Montreal’s Virgin Radio from 9pm to 10pm.

If you’re a long time listener, fear not, the show will remain the same: silly, funny, informative and filled with the best new music. New listeners will be treated to something different in the radio landscape in what is sure to be a standout hour on Sunday nights.

Sebastien Lefebvre plays guitar for multi-platinum Canadian band Simple Plan. With over 8 million records sold, a platinum-selling DVD and countless radio hits, Simple Plan has been a staple in the music scene since 2001. Sebastien has toured the world 9 times over playing with the band and is getting geared up to enter the studio to record the follow up to 2007’s self-titled record. Sebastien also has a cat who likes to pee under the dinning table.

Patrick Langlois has worked in the music industry for over 10 years now. After starting out with Donald K Donald, Patrick toured the world with Simple Plan and has directed 3 DVD’s for the band. The platinum selling “A Big Package for You” earned Patrick a JUNO Nomination for best director. For almost two years now, Patrick has worked as a mobile journalist for MusiquePlus interviewing some of the world’s most successful acts. Patrick is also afraid of rattle snakes, sharks and tigers.

Since Virgin Radio has announced the arrival of Sebastien and Patrick on their airwaves, the Montreal Canadiens are on a 6 games winning streak and the weather has been better than ever. Coincidence? We think not.

How to be a rockstar …. and not to die of hunger

by Dominika | Mar 9th, 2010 | 3 comments

Source: Roger Mooking’s blog

Don’t you hate it when you’re a rockstar and it’s so extremely difficult to eat well when you’re touring? Okay.. I guess you don’t know that feeling, but I think Sebastien does and he explained it pretty well during his interview by Roger Mooking. Check out the delicious interview right here:

What is the best bet for food at a truck stop?

This always depends on how hungry you are. If you’re lucky enough to get to a truck stop that has breakfast, have it. They are greasy and heavy, but they taste fine. Stay away from the pre wrapped sandwiches. They might look and smell fine, but they are not.

What do you eat in an airport?

You should always get the country specialty, ie some sushi in Japan, some pasta in Italy.

What is the best jet lag food to recharge?

Whatever comfort food you might have. I like burgers or spaghetti to restart my system.

I prefer to perform on an empty stomach. Do you eat before a show? If so, how long before?

I try to eat at least a couple hours before going on stage. You know what happens if you eat too close to stage time…

What food traditions do you have when you come off stage?

Keep it light! Fruit and nuts and things like that. Of course there’s always pizza in the dressing room, but I’m not a fan of late night greasy food.

Backstage catering can go either way. What makes for good backstage catering and what is the most memorable of your career?

Warm meals and good soup make a big difference. Big fan of the soup. Something interesting that happened on our last Canadian tour, we had fajitas four days in a row. All the venues had the same idea, and of course they don’t check with each other to find out what we had the previous day.

What is your favorite country to travel to for the food?

Japan all the way. Fresh fish galore. Nothing to complain about there with the fish and the green tea. But Italy is a close second. Best pasta in the world.

What was your favorite home cooked meal growing up?

Spaghetti was all I ate as a kid. That and PB and J. I was difficult as a kid.

If you have to, what is your fast food of choice?

Subway or Dagwoods. At least it doesn’t give me a stomach ache.

What is a must on the tour bus?

Bread and peanut butter for the morning. Then it’s all about beer, vodka, and wine. We have to treat our guests right.