September 14, 2005

Simple Plan's Homecoming Welcome: A Bottle To The Face

By James Montgomery (MTV.com)

Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier was on the receiving end of a rather rude homecoming gift during last weekend's Ovation Music Festival in Stratford, Ontario: a water bottle to the face.

The band was in the middle of its hit "Welcome To My Life," about 45 minutes into its set on Friday, when Bouvier was struck just below the eye by a bottle thrown from the crowd. He stumbled off the stage and was taken to Stratford General Hospital, where he received an undisclosed number of stitches. Simple Plan finished the song with an audience member as an impromptu guest singer, then tried one more song before leaving the stage.

"Pierre and everybody in the band really wanted to come back and finish the show, unfortunately, his condition did not permit this," the band wrote in a posting on SimplePlan.com. "We are really sorry about that and would like to sincerely apologize to all the fans who came out to the concert."

Before being hit with the bottle, Bouvier had told the crowd just how happy he was to be performing back home in Canada after spending the better part of the year touring Europe and China. Apparently, the fans in attendance didn't feel the same way, as they had been showering the band with bottles for its entire set.

Bouvier is expected to be fine, though his injury did force Simple Plan to cancel their scheduled appearance on Saturday night's "ReAct Now: Music & Relief" benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"We were hoping that Pierre would be OK to be playing on the hurricane-relief show today, but he was in no shape to be performing," the post continued. "Helping out all the people who suffered from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina was very important to us and we feel awful that we had to pull out of the show."

According to a rep at Simple Plan's label, Lava Records, the bandmembers could not be reached for comment on the bottle-throwing incident, as they were en route to Brazil to launch their South American tour, but said that all future SP dates -- including a just-announced U.S. tour with Straylight Run -- are in no danger of being postponed, a sentiment echoed on the band's website.

"Pierre is resting right now and, don't worry, he will be fine and ready to rock again in time for our South American tour," the post concluded. "Thanks for all your support. See you all at the shows."

Simple Plan tour dates, according to the band's label:

10/22 -- San Diego, CA @ SDSU Open Air Theatre
10/24 -- Denver, CO @ Colorado Convention Center
10/25 -- Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
10/27 -- St. Cloud, MN @ St. Cloud State University
10/28 -- Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave/ Eagles Club
10/29 -- Detroit, MI @ Fox Theater
10/30 -- Kings Mill, OH @ Paramount King's Island
11/1 -- Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
11/4 -- Toms River, NJ @ Ritacco Center
11/5 -- Lowell, MA @ Paul E. Tsongas Arena
11/8 -- New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre Times Square
11/9 -- New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre Times Square
11/12 -- Indiana, PA @ Indiana University of Pennsylvania
11/13 -- Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
11/19 -- Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre