No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls Tour
By: Nicole Juliette Hetlyn
Saturday night was a night of nostalgia and rock. Simple Plan played Nashville, celebrating the 15 year anniversary of their No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls album. Although I was only 10 when this album came out, my sister and I listened to it every day. I knew every single word and was convinced that I was going to move to Canada to marry Pierre Bouvier. For this special tour, Simple Plan brought Patent Pending and Hit the Lights with them, and it was quite the concert.
Long Island pop-rock band, Patent Pending, started the show off on a very high note. My friend, Sara, introduced me to this amazing band five years ago, and I've had the joy of seeing them several times since then. I've never seen such a fun, interactive, talented band perform. They are easily on my "must see" concert list. Patent Pending played our favorite songs - including "Hey Mario," and "Douche," as well as some newer songs and a cover song. Unlike most bands that'll just jam with their instruments, Patent Pending blessed us with boyband choreography, jazz hands galore, and Joe (vocals) made his way through the crowd several times. Again, words cannot explain how much fun this band is live, you need to experience it yourself!
This was my first time seeing Hit the Lights, but I thoroughly enjoyed their set. This pop-punk band was very energetic and had everyone jumping their whole set. I'm a huge pop-punk fan, so I'm sad that I'm late in the game, but I will definitely be checking out more HTL shows! Hit the Lights just put out a new album, Siberian Itch, last week. The set list included several new songs from this release.
Simple Plan is absolutely incredible live. Fifteen years later, and everyone is singing along to every single word. Pierre made several jokes about how they are "getting old," but it doesn't show, as they run across the stage and back playing our favorite songs. Simple Plan played through the NPNHJB album in full, and then added an encore with songs including "Shut Up," and "Welcome to My Life." This was such a nostalgic set. The first time I saw Simple Plan, I was in high school. I've been listening to their albums for many years, and still listen to them on a daily basis. It was a lot of fun to re-live these songs with one of my favorite bands.
