The energy was running high on a cool May evening at The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Expo Center as droves of people of all ages filed through the security check to see Relient K, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.
Relient K started out the evening with cheers from a decent-sized crowd. The sound seemed to be off during the band's set because the drum set and the bass guitar drowned out the vocals. All was not lost during this set though; as the band broke into one of its more well-known songs "Chap Stick, Chapped Lips and Things Like Chemistry" the sound seemed to become clearer. As the group finished the set with its recent hit "Be My Escape," the crowd seemed to realize what band they had been listening to for the past hour and showed signs of life for the first time.
The energy that the crowd gained at the end of Relient K's set only seemed to intensify during the break as everyone knew that Simple Plan was heading out to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
The next hour was a blur as the pop-punk group flew through its hits and album songs with more energy than most bands have for their biggest shows. The crowd went nuts as the group opened its set with "Shut Up," the opening track from the band's most recent CD, which is called "Still Not Getting Any." From there, the band worked flawlessly between songs from both of its CDs, plying hits such as "I'm Just a Kid," "Welcome to My Life," "Addicted," "I'd Do Anything" and the group's most recent hit, "Untitled (How Could this Happen to Me)." The band also did something that is becoming more and more common during live shows: They played covers. But these covers were not normal by any means. The Pop-punk group seems to have a soft spot for Hip-hop as the band went into a melody of hip-hop songs including Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot."
The most memorable song played at the show had to be "Perfect," the ballad that is chock full of teen angst. The acoustic lead-in to this song was more than perfect; it was a good way to slow down the pace of the concert and give the crowd a break from the jumping and dancing that had been going on throughout the fast-paced set. Simple Plan did not disappoint the crowd as a good amount of the people were into the whole set.
The only people not moving throughout the set were the parents of the young crowd.
As Good Charlotte took the stage, there was an obvious shift in the look of the crowd. The group on the floor went from the preppy, clean-cut fans of Simple Plan to the goth wannabes that make up most of Good �harlotte's fan base. This set was short-lived for me, as the acoustics of the Expo center were not good to begin with, and the lead singer's screaming really didn't transfer well.
The show was good for the most part; the crowd was into both of the headlining bands, which generated more energy from the bands. Also, the pop-punk bands seemed to be happy with the crowd's energy as the signers for both groups said they were happy to be there and that the crowd was the best of the tour so far. As is true with most concerts, the crowd is what made the show that much better.
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