Simple Plan asks China fans to go crazy

Simple Plan is touring China with hits from its latest album, Taking One for the Team.[Photo provided to China Daily]

French-Canadian band Simple Plan will return to China with three shows later this month.

Supporting its fifth album, Taking One for the Team, which was released in February, the shows－one in Beijing and two in Shanghai－are part of the pop-punk group's ongoing Taking One for the Team Tour 2016, which started in Madrid immediately after the album was unveiled.

"It's always exciting to be in China. Our Chinese fans have been great since the beginning. We're looking forward to being there again and seeing familiar faces, enjoying the awesome food and culture that we already know so well," lead vocalist Pierre Bouvier tells China Daily over email.

The band performed on the Chinese mainland in 2012 and the following year.

Both shows were successful.

"Pure madness," Bouvier says of fan expectations from the upcoming shows. "We love to get the party started and the set list that we have is great for that. We want fans to get involved in the show so we also expect craziness from you guys. We basically feed off you. The crazier you get, the better the show will be."

Besides the band's single hits, including Welcome to My Life and Jet Lag, they will perform tracks from their latest album, Taking One for the Team, which range from heavy punk guitars and drums to reggae and alternative.

With the new album, the band showed lots of personal growth both as a group and individual members.

Simple Plan started in mid-1990s in Montreal, where classmates Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau met in high school. In 1999, guitarists Jeff Stinco and Sebastien Lefebvre joined in.

It's been almost five years since the band released its last album, Get Your Heart On!, and a lot has happened in the lives of members since then.

"I'm motivated by having my little girls watch me play music and come to the shows. I have a studio in the back of my house. They pop in and they're like, 'Hey Daddy! Whatcha doing?'" says Bouvier, adding that he is excited to see that his daughters are interested in what he is doing and doesn't want them to later think their dad "used to be in a band that people liked".

"Our drummer Chuck (Comeau) always talks about it. We want our kids to be able to come see us while we're still doing well," he adds.

After 17 years as a group, the band members have shared much.

"The message is really on point these days. The world is not always a beautiful place, but it's important to always keep going," Lefebvre says, adding that Singing in the Rain is his favorite number from the latest album.

Simple Plan made a name with its pop-punk sounds and songs about love and breakup after releasing the debut album No Pads, No Helmets ... Just Balls.

"Breakup songs are such an instrumental part of pop or punk. We shouldn't limit ourselves to not write these songs that are such a part of our style just because we're happily in love (now). We just dive back into people that we were in love with in the past," Bouvier says.

If you go

8 pm, Aug 28. Huiyuan Space, LeSports Center, 69, Fuxing Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.

8 pm, Aug 30-31. Mixing Room, Mercedes-Benz Arena, 1200 Shibo Avenue, Shanghai. 400-610-3721.