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| .: APRIL - MAY 2005 | |
DRUMMER CHUCK COMEAU REPORTS IN ON THE MONTREAL BAND'S TRIP TO THE TSUNAMI-DEVASTED COUNTRY
After the tsunami disaster hit Asia on December 26th, a lot of artists, including ourselves, tried to organise a benefit show together while we were in that part of the world. With all the artists coming into town, MTV took the initiative to change the award show into a benefit concert geared towards raising awareness about the needs of South East Asia, and for the rest of the world to take notice.
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For the second year in a row, we were honoured to be invited to the MTV Asia Awards in Thailand, and for the second time, we had the chance to be nominated and perform on the show.
We travelled to Bangkok from Washington, DC, on one of the longest flights ever. We flew fourteen hours to Tokyo, stayed there for three hours on a lay-over and then flew seven hours to Bangkok. After 24 hours, we finally made it, ready to participate. Our friends in Good Charlotte were also in town to play the awards, and it was good to hook up again as we have just planned a huge tour together. Since the world didn't know about this tour yet, both bands thought it would be great to perform together and announce our plan to play shows together all over America in the spring.
Thank God we had two days of rehearsals to work everything out and make the collaboration work. We faced a few technical difficulties with trying to have both bands playing on the same stage so we had to spend some time making sure everything would run smoothly. When you're playing in front of almost a billion people, you better make sure you can pull it off! In the end, everything went off without a hitch. [Simple Plan's] Pierre [Bouvier] sang 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' with GC, and [Good Charlotte singer] Joel [Madden] stayed on to perform 'Shut Up' with us and announce the tour.
We also got to meet Chester from Linkin Park. They have always been one of our favourite bands. It was great to not only meet him, but to find out that he is one of the most down to earth and nicest people that we have ever met on tour. He was in Thailand for the event as well, but was also going to Phuket to see the devastation and work for Linkin Park's charity, Music For Relief. We talked a lot with him and decided that we too would visit Phuket and film some footage for the foundation during our two days off.
The trip to Phuket was both informative and eye opening. It is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth and it was really sad to see just how horrible the impact of the tsunami really was. We visited places that had been completely wiped out, and it was interesting to see things for ourselves instead of relying on CNN. Five weeks after the tsunami, things are moving along so fast, and some places are already completely rebuilt. It's important to know that they still need money but more importantly that it is safe to go back there as tourists. There is still a lot of fear instilled in people from the misinformation that the news outlets have been broadcasting. So it's important to know that most of Thailand has not been affected and is safe to travel to.
When everything was said and done, visiting Thailand was quite the experience. We hopefully were able to make a little difference and raise much needed awareness, visit a gorgeous country, have Good Charlotte perform with us and, oh yeah, we won an MTV Asia Award too!
