Simple Plan at The Theater at MGM National Harbor: a pop-punk evening that brings multiple generations together
Simple Plan are coming to The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill with the "Bigger Than You Think! Tour - The Sequel!", a continuation of the major North American celebration of their career. The concert is scheduled for Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM local time, with Bowling For Soup and 3OH!3 performing alongside Simple Plan. The combination is well suited to an audience that grew up with pop-punk and alternative pop in the 2000s, as well as younger listeners who discovered those songs through streaming and the new wave of interest in the genre.
This is not a tour built solely around one new album. The concept is broader: Simple Plan continue celebrating 25 years of their career with a program highlighting their biggest songs, fan favorites and material that has appeared less frequently live. This leg follows the successful first part of the tour and reaches cities that were not included on the previous route.
Ticket sales for this event are underway. For visitors traveling from another city, it is useful to arrange the ticket and transportation as one package, because the concert takes place in a resort complex along the Potomac, outside central Washington.
Simple Plan today: nostalgia, but not just a look back
Simple Plan emerged from Montreal's pop-punk scene and became one of the genre's most recognizable names in the early 2000s. Their identity still rests on fast punk-rock rhythms, big choruses, easily memorable melodies and lyrics about growing up, feeling like an outsider, relationships and the frustrations of youth. Songs such as "I'm Just a Kid", "Welcome to My Life", "Perfect", "Addicted" and "I'd Do Anything" therefore still function today as a shared repertoire for audiences who remember them from the era of music television and audiences who discovered them much later.
The band's current phase also has a clear documentary dimension. The film "Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd" follows their journey from their early days in Montreal to major world tours, while the accompanying soundtrack "The Kids In The Crowd - Music From The Documentary Soundtrack" presented a cross-section of their career, old demo recordings and the new song "Nothing Changes". That song neatly sums up the band's current phase: there is a look back, but it is not conceived as a farewell.
For visitors, that is important context. This tour does not push the old hits aside in favor of new material, but instead uses the entire catalog as its main story, while newer releases connect the past and present.
What can be expected from the live repertoire
The exact setlist for Oxon Hill should not be assumed in advance. The first leg of the "Bigger Than You Think!" tour nevertheless provides a useful framework. Recorded performances from 2025 combined major singles, songs that have long been part of the band's live repertoire and "Nothing Changes". On individual dates, "I'd Do Anything", "Shut Up!", "Jump", "Addicted", "Welcome to My Life", "Summer Paradise", "Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me?)", "What's New Scooby-Doo?", "I'm Just a Kid" and "Perfect" appeared.
That does not mean the same order or the same selection will be repeated at The Theater at MGM National Harbor. What can be concluded from previous performances is the way Simple Plan build an evening: fast, short pop-punk songs alternate with more emotional choruses, and a large part of the material relies on the audience singing together.
Reviews of the first leg of the tour also describe the concert as a generational gathering. Older fans react to songs they listened to in their teenage years, while younger audiences arrive at the same choruses from a different media environment.
- The strongest expectations: major hits and recognizable choruses from across the band's career.
- Newer context: "Nothing Changes" and material connected with the band's documentary project.
- The setlist for this specific concert has not been confirmed in advance, so previous performances should be viewed as a guide, not as a schedule.
Bowling For Soup and 3OH!3 broaden the sound of the entire evening
Bowling For Soup bring their version of melodic pop-punk, with humor, big choruses and songs that marked American alternative culture in the 2000s. "1985" and "High School Never Ends" fit well into an evening that openly relies on nostalgia but does not want to be a quiet retrospective.
3OH!3 shift the sound toward electronic pop, dance rhythms and the playful energy of the late 2000s. Their presence prevents the entire program from sounding like three variations of the same pop-punk pattern. On the first leg of the tour, their performances were described as loud and physically very active, while Bowling For Soup emphasized humor and direct communication with the audience.
For visitors, this means it makes sense to arrive on time and see the evening as a shared program rather than simply waiting for the headliner. The order and duration of the individual performances should not be guessed until the organizer confirms them, but the presence of both guests is confirmed.
It is worth securing tickets in good time, especially if you want to choose a position in the venue based on whether you prefer to be closer to the stage or have an overview of the entire production.
The Theater at MGM National Harbor: 3,000 seats and a compact concert venue
The Theater at MGM National Harbor has 3,000 seats and is equipped with modern sound, video and lighting systems. Compared with large arenas and open-air amphitheaters, such a capacity allows for a more compact feeling of space. For a band such as Simple Plan, whose concerts depend on direct contact, communal singing and quick transitions from song to song, that can be an important part of the experience.
The complex is located at 101 MGM National Ave, National Harbor, Maryland 20745. The venue is inside the MGM National Harbor resort. From the garage, visitors reach it by taking the elevator to the Casino Level, then walking through the restaurant and retail area toward the conservatory section of the complex.
The box office opens three hours before the start of the program on event days. Since the concert start is listed as 7:00 PM, this means the box office for this event is expected to open at 4:00 PM. This is not the same as a confirmed time for the venue doors to open, so entry time should be checked in the information associated with your own ticket and the venue's current instructions.
Arriving by car, parking and public transportation
MGM National Harbor has a self-parking garage with 5,000 parking spaces, with entrances from MGM National Avenue and Monument Avenue. Since July 13, 2026, self-parking has been charged to guests who are not members of the MGM Rewards program, while members of that program continue to receive free self-parking. For non-members, the price starts at USD 15 per day. This is worth taking into account if you visited the complex before the parking policy changed.
For public transportation, there is a designated zone on the north side of the resort, next to the theater entrance. MGM lists Metrobus connections to the nearest Metrorail stations: NH2 from King Street - Old Town on the Yellow Line and NH1 from Southern Avenue on the Green Line. The resort is also served by routes 35 and 35s of the Prince George's County Transit system.
National Harbor is connected by road to the major routes in the Washington area, including I-495, I-95 and I-295. If the concert is the reason for your trip to the city, leave extra time because traffic in the metropolitan area can significantly change the duration of the journey.
Entry rules worth knowing before you leave
The Theater does not allow bags except for small purses with maximum dimensions of 14 x 14 x 6 inches, and backpacks are not permitted regardless of size. Professional cameras with interchangeable or extended lenses, audio and video recording devices, selfie sticks, tripods and monopods are prohibited. Outside food and drinks are also not allowed.
This is particularly important for visitors who spend the entire day in Washington or National Harbor and arrive at the concert carrying a larger bag. The venue states that it does not offer storage for prohibited bags. If you arrive at the entrance with an item that is not permitted, you may be instructed to return it to your vehicle or hotel room.
People under the age of 21 may not pass through the casino area. The venue directs them to an alternative route through the complex to their destination. This rule applies to the casino section of the resort and does not in itself constitute an age restriction for the concert.
National Harbor before and after the concert
National Harbor is located on the banks of the Potomac River, not far from Washington, D.C. It is a waterfront area with restaurants, shops, hotels and promenades, so visitors who arrive early do not have to spend their time only inside the resort. The Waterfront District and the riverside promenade provide a simple option for a meal or a short walk before entering the venue.
For travelers from outside the region, it is useful to distinguish the names that appear in navigation services: Oxon Hill is the broader local area, National Harbor is the waterfront destination, and MGM National Harbor is the resort complex containing The Theater. For this reason, different services may show both Oxon Hill and National Harbor for the same concert destination.
If you are planning dinner before the concert, leave enough time to return to the venue, go through security and potentially collect your ticket.
Who may find this concert especially interesting
The most obvious audience is long-time Simple Plan fans who want to hear the catalog at a time when the band is deliberately placing it at the center of a major anniversary tour. But the program also makes sense more broadly. Bowling For Soup attract an audience with a similar pop-punk sensibility, while 3OH!3 bring an electro-pop and party component that opens the evening to fans of alternative pop from the late 2000s.
The concert may also be interesting to people who know Simple Plan only through a few songs. Big choruses and songs that have circulated for decades on radio, television, streaming services and social media create a low barrier to entry even for casual listeners.
For fans who have followed the band since the early albums, the announcement of deeper cuts they have not performed for a long time adds extra value. This is an area in which "The Sequel!" may differ from the first leg of the tour, so it is better to arrive without a fixed expectation for every song.
How to organize the evening without unnecessary stress
The safest plan is to arrive in National Harbor early enough that parking or transferring to a bus does not become a race against time. If you are arriving by car, check the current parking policy. If you are using public transportation, check the day's timetable because the fact that a route serves the resort does not guarantee the same departure interval throughout the entire day.
Before leaving, reduce the contents of your bag to a minimum. The rule on small purses and the ban on backpacks can save time at the entrance. Also, do not plan on professional photography: the rules for cameras and additional equipment are stricter than those applying to an ordinary phone.
The most important thing is to separate confirmed facts from assumptions. The event start is listed as 7:00 PM, but the opening time of the doors and the exact timing of individual performers are not information that should be presented as certain. The line-up, location and tour concept are confirmed, while the setlist may change.
If you are traveling primarily because of Simple Plan, this date offers more than a single headlining set: the entire line-up brings back different sides of pop-punk and alternative pop from a period that is once again strongly present in concert culture. It is worth securing tickets in good time and then planning your arrival according to the venue's rules rather than assumptions based on previous concerts.
Sources:
- MGM National Harbor - concert date and time, tour, line-up, venue capacity, address, box office and entry rules.
- MGM National Harbor Transportation & Parking - current parking policy, garage capacity and public transportation connections.
- Simple Plan website - current context of 25 years of the band's career and the "The Kids in the Crowd" documentary project.
- Apple Music - contents of the release "The Kids In The Crowd - Music From The Documentary Soundtrack" and the song "Nothing Changes".
- Setlist.fm - examples of repertoire from the "Bigger Than You Think!" tour during 2025, used only as a guide.
- Next Wave Magazine - description of the atmosphere, audience and performers' appearances on the first leg of the tour.
- National Harbor - geographic and practical context of the waterfront destination along the Potomac and access to the Washington area.