Last night my freshman year roommate and I went to see Simple Plan (that’s the same “I’m Just a Kid” Simple Plan you’re probably thinking of) at the Wiltern, and it was AMAZING. One of the reasons my roommate and I chose to live together last year via a roommate search Facebook page was because of how similar our music taste was. Clearly we’re proof that the best roommate pairings are derived from a love of rock bands?!
It’s pretty funny that since I got to school here, I actually haven’t been to a concert in LA. I’ve seen a bunch that happen at school, but this is the first one that I’ve been to that was not put on by Concert Committee, and being able to see the band that I’ve been a fan of since I saw them in New York Minute, also the band that made my first favorite song (Vacation) was an experience all in itself. It’s actually also the first rock concert I’ve been to, which is also pretty unexpected considering that’s most of the music I listen to, but I can’t imagine a better first concert of that type.
The concert venue was insane – from the outside, it was this tall, vintage-looking building in the middle of Koreatown, and inside, there was a GA/floor section, then a tiered balcony above, and we were right in the front of the lower balcony, so we were close enough to see their faces in detail and it was incredible. I’m a huge fan of concerts that are smaller – though I’m not the tallest person, so GA is definitely not my thing, so this was perfect. The band was were touring their first album, fifteen years since its release, and the fact that I remembered all of the songs from back in the day when I was seven and used to borrow this album from the library and download the songs onto my gigantic iPod and listen to them on repeat made me feel so nostalgic. One of the great things about being in LA is that there are always bands in town, so you can relive (or continue to live) your super angsty elementary school days.
The experience itself of being at this show was also really cool – the band’s been active for almost 20 years, and so their fans range from people my age, who weren’t really old enough to see shows like this when the album came out, and there were people in their late twenties and thirties who were in middle and high school and starting college when this album came out. My favorite part of concerts, other than hearing the music live, is hearing the band members talk to the crowd & interacting with everyone and the lead singer, Pierre – also my favorite member – came out into the crowd, and then Chuck, the drummer stage dove and crowd
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At the end of the concert, I legitimately didn’t think that I could listen to the album again in the same way, and I can confirm now, 12 hours later, listening to the entire thing on repeat again, it’s so much better than I remember it.
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