Photo Credit: Press

On a thrilling Thursday night, the penultimate performance of Canadian pop punk superstars SIMPLE PLAN‘s UK tour made a call in Leeds, featuring a star-studded line up to dazzle the Yorkshire crowd.

The crowd greeted Florida pop rock group MAYDAY PARADE with open arms as they launched with their beloved song ‘Oh Well Oh Well’. Every time the band performs in the UK, lead singer Derek Sanders never loses his enthusiasm from jumping around the stage and beaming from ear to ear. MP treated the crowd to a headline-worthy performance with crowd favourites ‘Black Cat’ and ‘Jersey’ before capping off their powerful set with ‘Jamie All Over’.

New York’s STATE CHAMPS were up next, bringing their fast-paced pop punk choruses to a city they were all too acquainted with. The Albany quartet’s performance was much anticipated by the audience, and it served as an ideal prelude to their anniversary shows at this year’s Slam Dunk Festivals. The Yorkshire crowd got right into it, singing the words back to lead singer Derek DiScanio during the upbeat opener ‘Just Sound’. The performance featured some recent hits including ‘Act Like That’ and ‘Outta My Head’, but the crowd went crazy for the decade old classic ‘Elevated’ which was followed by another pop-punk timeless tune, ‘Secrets’. STATE CHAMPS’ welcomed return to Leeds was shared across the room, and gave fans both old and new just what they are all about.

SIMPLE PLAN had a formidable task ahead of them, but these men are seasoned veterans to the game. The band walked out to the Star Wars opening theme music, which had the audience shouting as soon as they emerged from the wings. Kicking off the night with ‘I’d Do Anything’ and ‘Shut Up!’ to get the crowd even more animated. It was evident which of the band’s older and newer songs the Leeds audience preferred as the group eased into the set. Huge sing-alongs filled the entire room as ‘Addicted’ and ‘Welcome to My Life’ appeared early in the set, while the beer garden hit ‘Summer Paradise’ had the crowd even more enthralled with a sea of beach balls bouncing from pillar to post.

A mashup of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star‘, Avril Lavinge’s ‘Sk8er Boi‘, and The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside‘ was thrown in as a curveball, and it went down a real treat, as if the punters’ lungs weren’t already thoroughly taxed from singing a bunch of pop-punk classics, but now three almighty gems thrown together. The band then invited a handful of people on stage dressed up in Scooby-Doo onesies as they danced around the stage to the ‘What’s New Scooby-Doo’ theme tune that SIMPLE PLAN conducted back in 2003.

The quartet rounded off the main set with 2019’s standalone single ‘Where I Belong’ and inviting both Derek from State Champs and Sanders from Mayday Parade to serenade the audience, before exiting the stage. The Leeds crowd begged for more, and their wishes were granted once the band reappeared to conclude the night with ‘Jet Lag’ which featured AIR YEL to fill in Natasha Beddingfield’s parts, and sold it perfectly.

State Champs’ bassist Ryan Scott Graham joined in for the hit ‘I’m Just A Kid’ with vocalist Pierre Bouvier taking on drums duties as drummer Chuck Comeau joined the crowd and was paraded on top of them.

In addition to putting on a faultless performance, SIMPLE PLAN brought their highly anticipated UK tour to a close with the final two jewels from their repertoire, ‘Untitled’ and ‘Perfect’.