As part of their current UK tour, Canadian rockers Simple Plan recently played a gig at London’s Astoria to promote their new album. Maire Bonheim blagged some tickets.

It’s 7:30pm and the queue outside London’s legendary Astoria snakes for more than a block, a twisted stretch of laddered stockings, patchy hair dye and septic piercings – the kind of chipped nail-polish chic you need to skip school to prepare for.

Inside, it’s hot and sweaty. From the balcony you can sit on the railings and look down at the crowd jumping in time, like a pancake being flipped from a dirty pan, moshing to the opening act Kids in Glass Houses – definitely ones to watch, and much more indie Brit-friendly than Simple Plan.

The thing is that Simple Plan are unashamedly pop rock, and they’re not for everyone. They’re punky, dirty rocky, electronic and even boy bandesque by turns, and you can tell why they’re so huge in the US and Canada (selling more than seven million records stateside) while they’re still climbing the charts and relatively unknown in the UK.

But that hasn’t stopped them from filling up the Astoria with screaming fans – with plenty more disappointed emo kids outside still bidding on tickets.

Live, Simple Plan are fun, edgy and electrifyingly rock, popping up all over the venue. They’ve moved on from their hyper-pop-punk beginnings to something a bit more edgy, but their old-school hits like "I'd Do Anything," "Addicted," "Perfect," and "Welcome to My Life” still get as big a reaction as the new stuff.

Simple Plan’s new single Your Love Is A Lie is out on April 14th. Their third album ‘Simple Plan’ is out now.

To read an exclusive interview with lead guitarist Jeff Stinco, Click Here.

Visit www.simpleplan.com / www.myspace.com/SimplePlan