Since I'm going to Warped Tour this year, and was SO upset when I heard that Simple Plan was going to be leaving the tour before they got the Detroit stop, I decided to let you all in on a little story that I have about the first time that I met someone from Simple Pla.n. Every college campus has one of those "freshman weekend" things where they have bands that come up and they act like they're going to be nice and helpful to you the whole year, and they force you to deal with people who would normally get on your nerves, but are talking to you because there's no one else that would have a conversation with them. So anyway, the student board decided that the group that they would get for their annual concert would be "Simple Plan". For those of you who don't know about them, they're a bunch of power-pop musicians who claim that they're punk, and walk around onstage with names like "Pierre" and "Jacques". They're apparently punk because they have spiked hair, and...well, that's about it. So they do their stupid little set with songs that were already on the radio, and the one song that they played that I really wanted to hear, their "I'm Just a Kid" song, they had the audience sing the lyrics to it. I don't want to hear the audience, I'm standing here in 90 degree heat to listen to your sorry-asses sing it. So I was a little pissed about that. Before that though, they had a little "meet and greet" with their fans. Being a male and only liking music that DOESNT suck, I really didn't want to talk to them. So I waited around by their tent, thinking that all of them were in there talking to people who came up to the booth. So I'm off to the side, and this bald guy comes up to me. He looks kind of like a chimp, which is what got my attention. So he says "Enjoying the band?" "No, not really, but it's a free concert." I should have kept my mouth shut after that, because he gave kind of a weird reaction. "Well, what about that band Simple Plan? Do you like them?" "Oh, yeah." I said. "They're alright." "Do you have any of their CDs?" I said that I did, but I burned it. "You what?" He asked. "I burned it, I'm not gonna pay $19 for a CD with a couple good songs on it." "Well people who burn CDs are making bands lose money! We're not exactly rich, you know!?" For some reason that set me off, but before I could answer with a smart-ass comment, he stormed away. "Who WAS that asshole?" I asked myself. Well, flash forward two years later, and that asshole is making his second go-around on a PUNK rock music tour with Simple Plan, and already had a #1 single. Do I feel bad for insulting him? No. Do I feel bad for burning the cd that they released? Nope. Do I even feel bad for supplying my friend with the Gatorade bottle that hit Pierre in the leg? You'd think I would, but I don't. Why? Not because I have a grudge against Canadians, its because I have a grudge against bands that suck.