Simple Plan, Hoobastank and The Used Play Acoustic Set on Southwest Flight to Orlando
Simple Plan, Hoobastank, The Used and LØLØ performed in the air on Friday, Nov. 13, aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Orlando. The concert happened while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US agency that oversees air travel, had halted departures across the country.
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday, which grounded flights for more than four hours, according to Billboard. The bands were flying to Orlando for the Saturday, Nov. 14 date of Vans Warped Tour at Camping World Stadium.
The in-flight show was part of Southwest's Live at 35 series, which brings surprise live performances to passengers at cruising altitude, about 35,000 feet. The series launched in 2011.
Hoobastank frontman Doug Robb played an acoustic version of "The Reason." The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2004. The Hot 100 is Billboard's weekly singles chart, the list that ranks the most popular songs in the United States each week.
Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier followed with acoustic takes on "Perfect" and "I'm Just a Kid." The Used performed "The Taste of Ink," and LØLØ played "hot girls in hell."
Acoustic sets, with a single guitar or piano and no full band, suit a tight space like an aircraft cabin. Each act had a short slot, and each song was chosen for a room of passengers rather than a stadium crowd. For the people on board, the flight became a gig they were not expecting to attend.
The Warped Tour dates in Orlando were still ahead of the bands as they landed. The flight itself, and the ground stop it flew through, were the story of the day.
