CONCERT REVIEW: Sum 41 & Simple Plan Celebrate Roots During Epic Tilburg Show

What a bill. After years and years, Sum 41 and Simple Plan came together and even became friends. The result? A Whibley feature on the new Simple Plan album and a huge tour featuring both bands with Sum 41 as headliner due to their ongoing popularity in Europe. The best part? Both bands focused on old material just to put the icing on top of the already pretty epic nostalgia cake.

The opener for this beautiful evening was Cassyette, a creative mind from the UK who’s keen on reviving the altrock and punkscene, and could not have been on a better tour to do so. If you’re going to any of the remaining Sum/Simple Plan shows, make sure to get there early and check out Cassyette, or get a glimpse of the performance in the gallery below.

The last time we saw Simple Plan was in 2017 when they were on their No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls anniversary tour, but no one seemed to mind a second show with focus on older music. After all, it was their earlier albums that shaped many of the fans’ childhoods. The crowd this evening was incredible diverse, made up of a beautiful mix of old and new fans. While new fans can most likely still relate to many of the band’s lyrics catered to the younger demographic, the old-school fans are mostly here for nostalgia reasons. A bunch of 30 year olds racing home from their office job, putting on their old band T and screaming about teen angst from the top of their lungs, and I say this with love because this statement resonates with me. Unequivocally and unashamed.

While the band did take a second to support the release of their new album Harder Than It Looks with the live rendition of Iconic, the majority of the setlist consisted of the band’s first two albums with the popular tracks I’m Just A Kid, Perfect, Welcome To My Life and Jump! all making an appearance. With a setlist consisting of many older songs, the show had barely changed from the last time we saw the band. Luckily it has been a few years, so even if it was familiar greatness, it was welcomed with open arms. Check out some shots of the band’s performance in the gallery below.

Just like it has been a few years since we’ve seen Simple Plan, quite some time has passed since we last saw Sum 41. With the band’s most recent album releasing in 2019 and of course a pandemic, it’s been a while. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen new Sum 41 music yet, but we do know there’s a double album on its way. This show however has a different focus than new music: All Killer No Filler and Does This Look Infected. Both albums are getting pretty old, and with its popularity still skyhigh, a tour to celebrate your roots sounds great. Sum 41’s show lasted for about 1h 40m, which meant the band could give some songs a slot on the setlist where that wouldn’t have been the case if this were to be a ‘regular’ show. Songs like Hooch and Mr. Amsterdam for example, giving the oldschool Sum fans a real treat and a unique experience.

When Sum 41 made a stop in Tilburg’s 013 in 2017 on the Don’t Call It A Sumback tour we’ve stated in our review that Sum 41 are back and ‘stronger than ever’. I’m not sad to have to retract that statement, as Sum 41’s show, enthusiasm and frontman Deryck Whibley’s voice is even stronger this time around. Match that with an abundance of steam cannons, confetti and fire and you have yourself a Sum 41 show anno 2022. There’s honestly no point in deep diving into the band’s musical talent or synergy, ‘cause with the amount of years and shows Sum 41 have under their belt, their musical prowess comes to no surprise.

To increase the amount of love for Does This Look Infected, Sum played a medley consisting of 4 songs off of the record, which made the total of songs played from this album a whoppin’ 9 outta 12. Of course the cover of We Will Rock You made its glorious appearance on this evening, as it has been consistently doing for years.

When the encore ended with the popular song Fat Lip, frontman Deryck Whibley had one more trick up his sleeve. While the show was really finished and the lights in 013 were already back on, the room went dark once more a few minutes later. In a room with about half of the fans left, Whibley joked ‘close the doors, this is a private show now’, before treating the fans to a solo performance of the emotional Catching Fire. A beautiful ending to a beautiful evening. Get a glimpse of what the greatness looked like in the gallery below.

Glenn van den Bosch

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