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Pop-punk is having a moment, and two of the most popular bands from the genre’s early 2000s peak teamed up for a celebration at Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ).
Avril Lavigne headlined the gargantuan main stage on the historic Plains of Abraham in Quebec City on Friday night (July 4) for more than 80,000 fans, which also coincided with the final date of her Greatest Hits Tour with fellow Canadians Simple Plan.
The two acts recently released the collaborative track “Young and Dumb,” which reflects on their 2002 heights from the perspective of their current selves. They played the nostalgic tune for the crowd at FEQ, inviting a group of fans up on stage — ranging from young children to diehards who have been following them for over 20 years — and gave them all special signed Avril Lavigne skateboards.
Since it was their final show together, though, Lavigne invited Simple Plan to stay up on stage a little longer. They decided to pay tribute to another of the biggest pop-punk bands of the era, which she said influenced both acts’ careers: blink-182. Together, they played a cover of one of their most enduring hits, “All The Small Things,” while the crowd all sang along.
Lavigne has been teaming up for covers lately, reuniting with her ex-husband Deryck Whibley for a performance of Sum 41’s “In Too Deep” at a recent Warped Tour performance.
While the mall-set teen angst and big emotions of the early ’00s pop-punk boom felt life-or-death dramatic to teens of the era, Lavigne has started to lean into the campy appeal of the music.
Some fans (many now in their late 30s or early 40s, like Lavigne herself) came decked out in her signature “Complicated” era black eyeliner and necktie combo. Lavigne donned a sequined green guitar for performances of songs like “My Happy Ending.” She raised a toast to teenagers, adults and “adults that still act like teenagers” for “Here’s to Never Growing Up” and led the crowd in sing-alongs of songs like “Sk8er Boi.” She shouted out her hometown of Napanee, Ontario.
She may not be as animated onstage as she once was, but her deep catalogue of hits easily kept the crowd engaged. Occasionally, during songs like “What the Hell,” she took a moment to flex her vocal chops, reminding us that beneath the zeitgeist-defining pop hits, she has always had an incredible voice.
In their earlier set, Simple Plan brought the energy. The band hails from Montreal, and they used the rare opportunity playing for Quebecois fans to do the majority of their stage banter in French. They also invited up rising Quebec singer Claudia Bouvette for their bilingual version of “Jet Lag” (originally a duet with Marie-Mai).
Lead singer Pierre Bouvier donned a shirt that said “I’m Just a Kid” with “Kid” crossed out and replaced with “Adult.” They leaned into the fun aspect of their hook-heavy tunes, even breaking out their What’s New Scooby-Doo? theme song while people in Scooby Doo costumes danced around them. They played some of their own crowd-pleasing covers too, putting their spin on Smash Mouth’s “All Star” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” At one point, Bouvier switched places with drummer Chuck Comeau as he dove into the audience to crowd-surf.
It felt like 2002 all over again.
This article was originally published on Billboard Canada.
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