Simple Plan: The Kids In The Crowd

They are one of the biggest pop-punk bands from the 2000's having sold millions of albums worldwide. But getting there wasn’t as easy as their name might suggest. Simple Plan just dropped a full length documentary on Amazon Prime highlighting how they got where they are today. If you’re expecting to sее a documentary about a typical rock and roll band struggling with drugs, alcohol and women, this is not that. It’s rather about friendships, rejections and a stubbornness to succeed. Having personally worked alongside Simple Plan for a few weeks recently, I was especially curious to see the background of the dynamics of this band.

Known for hits like I’m Just a Kid, Welcome To My Life, Summer Paradise and many more, Simple Plan never really fit into the typical punk-rock lineups. Too pop for punk, too punk for pop. So how do you make it if no one truly accepts you? You make them accept you. You don’t quit after a rejection letter, you don't quit after a bad crowd response at Warped Tour, you don’t quit when the singer kicks you out of your own band. Yes, that last thing actually happened. Before Simple Plan existed, there was Reset with singer Pierre Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau. Pierre kicked Chuck out of Reset.

We all know that drummers usually are a bit more on the background, but not Chuck. I was out on tour with The Offspring in Japan and Australia earlier this year, and opening for them on this run were Simple Plan. I've seen them play here and there but other than sharing a table during lunch with guitar player Sébastien Lefebvre backstage at a festival once, I had no idea what these guys were like. I quickly noticed how good spirited and hard working everyone in the band and crew are, but especially Chuck stood out. He’s always making things happen. This documentary really confirmed that observation. You can see how emotionally draining and exhausting it must’ve been back in the day when you're not even sure if what you’re putting all your energy in is even going to work and that it might all be for nothing.

And they did a lot. From sending countless demos, impersonating managers to impress record labels, putting on fake shows to attract record labels who weren’t even there to see them, to playing the parking lot at the Pop Disaster Tour. Through the help of Simple Plan's unofficial bandmember Patrick Langlois (who’s been with the band since the early days, capturing everything on video which is 90% of the footage you see in this documentary) they finally managed to get signed with Aquarius Records. And as Chuck is reliving that moment on camera, he goes into tears.

This was just the start. There’s a lot more to be told, there's more ups and downs. Ups like Pierre's dad becoming the band’s driver crossing borders proudly announcing "We’re in a rockband!“. And then there's the downs. No radio stations playing their first ever single, or the first album being sold at all, endless empty venues, the list goes on and on... But it shows how by keeping their spirits up and the dream alive things eventually started to happen.

More and more you see how the band takes control of their own decisions and its success growing bigger and bigger. Thanks to a viral TikTok rage featuring I’m Just A Kid and rock music becoming more mainstream again, the band gets a foothold once again. This was also the key moment the band started embracing social media in very clever and fun ways.

Potentially the biggest down for Simple Plan is how they went from five to a four-piece band. Anyone who has seen them recently probably noticed there’s something missing on stage. Or rather someone. There’s no bass player. It is mentioned briefly in the documentary but the exact details are not given. It’s one of those things you can find online and they do seem to be heartbroken about it.

The struggles are what made this band. Through dedication, hard work and simply not giving up. Still in its original lineup, this documentary shows what brotherhood is about.

With cameos from Fat Mike (NOFX), Mark Hoppus (blink-182), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Cone and Dave Brownsound (Sum 41), Dexter and Noodles (The Offspring), Avril Lavigne and more it really shows what legacy this band already has.

Seeing this documentary, my appreciation for Simple Plan has definitely grown bigger, and especially Chuck's part of it all is what hit me the most. Simple Plan are bigger, better and more energetic than ever. It was never a phase. The world is their territory.