Live on stage at your Thunder Bay Community Auditorium for the first time ever!
Multiplatinum Canadian pop-punk icons Simple Plan have announced a Canadian tour in celebration of the 15th anniversary of their 2X Platinum debut album No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls. The band is currently in the midst of the first U.S. leg of the “No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls 15th Anniversary Tour,” which sees the group performing their first album in its entirety alongside other fan favorites.  The wildly popular tour – which kicked off on March 19th – the same date that No Pads, Ho Helmets….Just Balls was released in 2002 – has already sold out shows in New York City, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and more.  A second leg of the U.S. will begin in August, before the band tours Canada throughout September. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 10 AM local time. All dates are listed below and tickets are available at http://www.simpleplan.com/tour.
Just before heading out on the anniversary tour, the band explained in a note to fans, “we felt it was important take this opportunity to look back and celebrate the amazing adventure we’ve had as a band and as friends… “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls” changed everything for us and we are so excited to play all these songs again and relive a time in our lives full of so many amazing memories.” Read the note in its entirety below. On the Canadian tour, the band says: “We can’t wait to come back and tour Canada, our home country, where everything started for us. We wrote this album in our parents’ basements in Montreal, recorded it in Toronto and did our first shows and tours all over this country so it’s gonna be a very special moment for us to come home and play these shows.”
Joining Simple Plan for all Canadian dates will be Kitchener, ON-based trio Courage My Love. Toronto band Selfish Things will open all shows except Toronto. Canadian punk-rock band Not By Choice will reunite after over a decade for a special one-night only set at the Toronto show on September 16.
In addition to being certified 2x Platinum in Canada, U.S. and Mexico, No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls is 5X Platinum in Indonesia, Platinum in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and certified Gold in Brazil, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK. No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls features hits like “I’d Do Anything,” “I’m Just A Kid,” “Addicted,” and “Perfect.”
Last year, Simple Plan released their latest album, Taking One For The Team. The album, produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects) features “Boom,” “Opinion Overload,” and “Singing In The Rain.” The band recently released a heartfelt video for “Perfectly Perfect” off of the album. Lead single “I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed (Feat. Nelly),” reached the top 10 in 25 countries spanning Vietnam and Brunei to Russia, Taiwan, and The Philippines. The album debuted at #1 on iTunes in 10 countries including Canada, Singapore, Mexico, Czech Republic, Thailand, Switzerland, Prague, Japan, Cambodia, and Macau; as well as debuted in the iTunes Top 10 in 25 additional countries.  
Later this year, Simple Plan will join the Vans Warped Rewind At Sea Cruise, from October 28th through November 1st. Details can be found here, http://www.warpedrewindatsea.com/
Simple Plan has earned widespread acclaim and a global fan following for their genre-defying blend of classic punk energy and modern pop sonics. Since coming together in 1999, the Montreal-based combo has achieved worldwide sales in excess of 7 million, with releases including 2x-platinum debut, No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls, 2004’s 3x-platinum-certified follow-up, Still Not Getting Any, and 2005’s platinum album MTV Hard Rock Live. 2008’s platinum-release Simple Plan proved an planetary blockbuster upon its release, reaching the #1 spot on the iTunes Store’s “Top Pop Albums” chart while also scoring top 3 successes in Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and the band’s native Canada. Get Your Heart On! – released in 2011 – found Simple Plan joined by an array of like-minded artists, including All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, and UK songstress Natasha Bedingfield. Singles like “Jet Lag” and “Summer Paradise” – the latter released in two distinct versions featuring Somali/Canadian rapper K’Naan and GRAMMY® Award-winning dancehall superstar Sean Paul – were both worldwide smashes, earning chart success and commercial milestones including earning gold, platinum, and multi-platinum sales in Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.
In addition to their studio forays and nearly non-stop touring, Simple Plan has long been involved in philanthropic efforts spearheaded by their own Simple Plan Foundation. Created in 2005, the Simple Plan Foundation supports a variety of social and medical organizations dedicated to helping young people in need. The Simple Plan Foundation has raised over 2 million dollars in donations to date.  For more, please see simpleplanfoundation.org.
Simple Plan is:  Pierre Bouvier – vocals; Chuck Comeau – drums; David Desrosiers – bass, backing vocals; Sebastien Lefebvre – guitar, backing vocals; Jeff Stinco – lead guitar.