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span class="inline inline-left">Third time’s a charm: Simple Plan’s bass player David Desrosiers (left) and lead singer Pierre Bouvier rocked the audience at Istora Senayan on Tuesday evening. Simple Plan’s third concert in Jakarta saw an energetic performance. Courtesy of Donny PratamaHas everyone in Jakarta run out of money to buy concert tickets? It is indeed a valid question to ask considering the unimpressive number of attendees at Simple Plan’s Get Your Heart On! concert on Tuesday.

Although there was no official announcement as to how many tickets were sold prior to the event, the concert venue, Istora Senayan Jakarta, looked half empty despite the engaging performance the band delivered.

So what went wrong? Well, it could be the timing.

Since November of last year, Jakarta has been visited by big names in the music industry such as Akon, Julio Iglesias, and, more recently, Indie sensation Foster The People. Then there was The People’s Party, a performance by cutting-edge electro-pop bands such as Metronomy, The Naked and Famous, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Jezebels.

But the one that takes the cake — and perhaps the one that preempted Simple Plan’s concert — is pop royalty Katy Perry, whose much-anticipated Jakarta concert was scheduled for two days after Simple Plan’s performance.

Sure, every concert will attract different crowds. But many of the acts recently visiting Jakarta do share the same concert-going fans. In the case of Simple Plan, it was rather obvious that the concert failed to attract the young adult market that was once their crowd.

Formed in 1999, Simple Plan gained global recognition after their first studio album, No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls, was released in 2002. Their chart-topping hits like “I’m Just A Kid”, “Addicted” and “I’d Do Anything” were literally the anthems of the new millennium. Their success continued with the albums Still Not Getting Any... in 2004 and Simple Plan in 2008.

It has been reported that the band’s fourth studio album, Get Your Heart On!, released in 2011, has already reached gold status in Canada. All in all, the band has sold up to seven million copies of their albums worldwide to date — not a bad number for a pop-punk band considering the trend shift in the music industry that today favors R&B and dance pop.

Admittedly, the music industry is a tough market to compete in. But with innovative marketing efforts, Simple Plan managed to persevere. The band’s latest hit “Jet Lag”, which was released in both English and French, is still popular on radio stations across the globe.

Different versions of “Jet Lag”, too, have been released in collaboration with artists from various countries such as Britain’s Natasha Bedingfield, France’s Marie-Mai and Australia’s Jenna McDougall.

Closer to home, Simple Plan has collaborated with Indonesia’s own rock sensation Kotak. The video of their performance has attracted over 150,000 views on YouTube.

But if their recent Jakarta concert was any indication, it may be safe to assume that the early millennium fans — who probably are in their 20s now — still listen to the band’s catchy music but aren’t so interested in going to their concerts anymore.  

A large portion of the audience that night consisted of trendy teenagers, who probably first heard of the band after its third studio album released in 2008. All that said, Simple Plan delivered a stellar performance that could have given any newcomers in the industry a run for their money.  

The concert started with a heart-pumping performance by Kotak, who delivered recent hits such as “Terbang”, “Pelan – Pelan Saja”, “Tendangan Dari Langit” and “Beraksi”.

Exactly at 9 p.m. the lights were off and the crowd cheered as drummer Chuck Comeau emerged onstage. The rest of the band members — bassist David Desrosiers, guitarist Sebastien Lefebvre, vocalist Pierre Bouvier and guitarist Jeff Stinco — then made their entrances to thunderous applause from the audience.

Camera-snapping teenagers jumped hysterically as the band performed “Shut Up”, followed by “Can’t Keep My Hands Off You”. Responding to the crowd’s enthusiasm, vocalist Pierre invited everyone to sing along and raise their hands.

“Terima Kasih,” said Pierre, while preparing to sing “Jump”. “Are you ready to celebrate the night with Simple Plan? I want you all to jump! Here we go!”

Simple Plan entertained the audience with other hits including “When I’m Gone”, “Addicted”, “My Alien”, “Your Love is A Lie” and “Astronaut”, before interacting with the audience while performing “Summer Paradise”.

The most awesome performance of the night was “Jet Lag”, in which Simple Plan shared the stage with Kotak’s vocalist Tantri. The latter’s thunderous voice was met with praise from both audience and Pierre alike.

The band once again had the crowd electrified with “This Song Saved My Love”, “Welcome to My Life” and “Anything”. The night ended with Simple Plan performing “Closer of The Year”, “I’m Just a Kid” and “Perfect”.  

Admittedly, there has been a significant change in Simple Plan’s musical style. While their previous album was somewhat darker and heavier tunes, Get Your Heart On! carries a rather fun and poppy modern-rock style reminiscent of their first two albums — perhaps a simple, albeit tactful, strategy to win over today’s teenage market?