No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls: 15 Years Later
Friday was an emotional night for me as I went to see Simple Plan in concert. I was just seven years old when their debut album came out. That album would end up being one of my best friends during a time when I had to navigate the crumbling relationship of my parents.
I felt as if every song was being sung about my life. I felt like I was finally being understood. I forgot about how powerful music can be until I was standing at the concert surrounded by people who were clearly in the same boat as me. We all went through something in 2002 that this album made go away for a little while.
As a little thank you to Simple Plan, I wrote an article about them and the concert. It's a night I know I will never forget. You can read an excerpt below or the entire article here.
2002: A time when Tobey Maguire was Peter Parker, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears' breakup was fresh in our minds and The Osbornes were on TV.
2002 also marks the year Simple Plan debuted "No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls." An album that would change the lives of thousands of people. I was seven, struggling to have a relationship with my father and in therapy for my parents’ divorce. I felt alone, stuck in the middle, hoping to go from seven to seventeen to escape from being trapped.
