Simple Plan and Sum 41 take the blame for a killer set at The Palladium
If distance makes the heart grow fonder, then make-up dates for rescheduled punk shows must make the voice grow louder. That may seem oddly specific, but in terms of Simple Plan and Sum 41 finally being able to make their way to Worcester after a three-month wait, it really makes total sense.
Officially closing out their highly-successful joint tour dubbed the “Blame Canada Tour” at the Palladium on Aug. 28, both pop punk legends delivered hit after hit to the packed outdoor space with gusto. And although the headliners both made their way from the Great White North to celebrate their maple-tapped roots in their own snarky way, it was neon-drenched Florida party-starters Set It Off that kicked things into gear one last time, and embarked on a high-velocity journey to do exactly what their name suggests.
The sun may have been covered (praise be to Alanis Morrissette for that constant breeze), but the colors on stage were popping hard as the ultra-energetic quartet took to the stage and, from the jump, offered up an all-out dance party with upbeat songs and steady grooves to mosh and bounce around to. But while all the crowd surfing, good vibes and calls to “jump the (expletive) up” remained constant themes throughout the night, the bright colors quickly faded once Set It Off simmered down and relinquished the stage, as Sum 41 harnessed the wrath and angst that has powered them through more than 20 years of power-packed shows, and dragged the evening straight to hell for the most wonderful rollercoaster of chaos and nostalgia that you could ask for.
Brandishing all their fan favorites, or as frontman Deryck Whibley put it, all “the old (expletive), and the really old (expletive),” the band ambushed the stage with such a feverish tenacity that not even periodic technical difficulties could vanquish the wrath of the pop punk titans. Fast songs, sad songs, heavy songs, it didn’t matter — Whibley and company, as well as their loyal fans, refused to quit and did not stop moving until their clock ran out.
And while it may be gratuitous to point out, it was gleefully obvious that they were just as excited to finally see the tour through to the end in Worcester as the crowd was to welcome them, and by the time the final notes of arguably their biggest hit “Still Waiting” rang out, the band had left everything out on the stage before heading home, effectively offering a night of, all pun intended with a nod to their 21-year-old seminal album, all killer and no filler that could’ve easily tuckered out the crowd during the later hours of a Sunday night. But hold up, Simple Plan was right around the corner, and the energy was palpable to say the least, as made evident by fans who continued to move with youthful abandon.
As the band strutted onto the stage while the "Star Wars" theme blared into the night sky, the crowd swelled with anticipation as the waiting over the course the past three months had officially paid off entirely. Frontman Pierre Bouvier took on the role of maestro until the iconic anthem had concluded, but as the band broke into the set with a swift transition into “I’d Do Anything,” the vibe swayed from Comic Con to Warped Tour hella fast as the quartet and the crowd volleyed a remarkable display of chemistry that initiated sing-alongs to those songs we listened to in the early 2000s that helped us process the frustration of existence. Funny thing though, is that those songs still have the capability, as became evident on a random Sunday night in Worcester in 2022, to hit you square in the chest and bring you back to those moments where emotions were a mess, but the world didn’t seem as crazy and time seemed to stand still a little longer, for better or worse.
Come to think of it, this show easily could’ve just been canceled, and the bands could’ve chilled out for the rest of the summer. But instead, as Simple Plan so boisterously proclaimed in their opening track, and exhibited in myriad ways thereafter, they’d do anything to make it happen in Worcester and send this certified banger of a tour into that good night on the right note, with anything but a gentle whisper.
Time and time again, found within high jumps, stage dives while wearing coveralls and gas masks to comically prevent the spread of COVID-19, and a variety of ways to show their genuine appreciation for the tightly-packed crowd, Bouvier and crew exuded a youthful and almost whimsical excitement to be out on the stage to close things down, and while the booming drums and searing guitars certainly brought an exuberance to the night’s rollout, which was as much of a celebratory 20-year nod to the band’s breakthrough debut album, “No Pads, No Helmets … Just Balls,” as it was an ushering of a new chapter with their new album “Harder Than It Looks,” it wasn’t until the chilling display of cell phone lights illuminating a lone, acoustic-wielding Bouvier as he belted out the always-emotional “Perfect” to end the night that it became completely obvious that the track selection was indeed the perfect way to bring it all to a close.
By the end of the night, it still wasn’t exactly clear as to what we were blaming Canada for. Could it be their life-changing exports of Tim Hortons, the National Hockey League, and Rush? Or maybe it was referring to Keanu Reeves, ginger ale, and poutine. Or perhaps we’re just thinking too much into it, and we really only need to charge Canada’s favorite pop-punk sons — or at this point, fathers — with providing us a Sunday night, jam-packed with some outrageously infectious energy, some seriously unrelenting bangers from A to Zed, and an overflow of nostalgia that may just keep us in the time machine for a little bit longer to start the new work week.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Simple Plan, Sum 41 return to Palladium for 'Blame Canada Tour'
