There are the teenage girls with striped armbands, black jeans, low-slung hats, metal jewelry and plaid skirts. Here are the vendors with popcorn and cotton candy and glow sticks. There is the huge black screen with three skulls and a punching fist bearing her name across the knuckles. Here is Avril Lavigne herself.
A million female voices scream above the opening grungy guitar chords. Neon green sticks wave in the air along with hands and arms. Fans hold out signs adoringly, ecstatic just to see Avril’s little body silhouetted against the black cloth. The screen drops, and if it is even conceivable, the screaming goes up a notch.
The pint-sized Canadian is on her North American “Bonez Tour 2004”, performing around the country and rocking coliseums and auditoriums everywhere. Saturday night, Avril played the Hampton Coliseum with her producer, Butch Walker, opening the show with members of American Hi-Fi. With bittersweet vocals and major chord progressions, Butch Walker was enough to get our bodies limber and our ears ready for the explosive sound that was to come.
Boy, did it explode. I had no idea a crowd could yell that loud. Even in my quiet room, hours later, I can still hear it ringing in my ears. Avril is indisputably adored.
And for good reason. The singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianist princess of pop-punk knows her stuff. With a good smattering of old and new songs, Avril filled the cavernous Coliseum with great, solid rock for almost two hours. For the vehement fan, she played lesser known (a.k.a. non-single) songs from her debut album Let Go, such as “Naked” and “Mobile”. Those who just wanted to hear “Complicated” would have to wait until the encore, but were blessed with all the radio-friendly tunes such as “Happy Ending” and “Sk8tr Boi”.
Ms. Lavigne’s sound also just happens to be impeccably live. (Emphasis on the word “live”.) Although she has been included in the group accused by the embarrassed Ashlee Simpson of using backing tracks, Avril’s voice was undeniably live and incredibly real. Her band follows her lead to the minutest detail, providing raw, catchy guitar and drums and lush, subtle backup vocals.
Although, it’s not as if Avril needs the backup. Her powerful voice is enough to make your jaw drop and your eyes pop, even more so because it’s coming from such a diminutive form. Her voice is hugely out of proportion with her body, and its candy-apple, almost nasal tone is coupled with an angry edge that creates a heart-wrenching effect on its listeners.
But if her vocals are heart-wrenching, her songs are heart-pounding. Driving drumbeats and interesting chord progressions caused many teenage hips to sway. many heads to bob, and many feet to jump. Kick-butt lyrics like “I’m gonna live my life… I won’t compromise” and “Don’t try to tell me what to do, don’t try to tell me what to say” sparked pride and dignity in every female heart. We were singing along with her, singing to all the men that had hurt us and the people that had put us down. We believed Avril because she performs as if she believes it all herself, spitting the words out with such passion and anger it feels like she’s singing the song for the first time. She sings and plays with an incredible tenacity, biting onto those songs and refusing to let go.
Still, Avril Lavigne is someone that you want to know. She smiles shyly and waves at the crowd, and sometimes even twirls in circles between songs. She draws the crowd in and shares her most intimate secrets. This proved most effective during a short, acoustic set in which she pulled up a stool for “Tomorrow” and “Nobody’s Home,” the latter of which built into a commanding rock ballad for the final chorus. The dynamic pitch was carried into songs like “I’m With You” and “Anything But Ordinary.”
Unlike a lot of popular singers of our time, Avril writes all of her own songs, sings all of her own lyrics, and plays her own guitar and piano. Songs from her new album, Under My Skin, such as “Together” and “Don’t Tell Me” clearly show the songwriting prowess that she has achieved in the last couple of years.
Another defining feature of the singer is her strong image. It is refreshing to see a female on stage who doesn’t have cleavage, bare stomach, and legs hanging out all over the place. Avril doesn’t play to be sexy; she plays as if she loves it, and for the sweat and smiles, we believe her. She is also one of the few under-twenties women who strongly promote self-confidence and self-love over social acceptance. As she said before “Don’t Tell Me”, Avril likes to sing about “being strong and standing up for yourself… all that good stuff!” From the wide range of young girls and women screaming and dancing to her songs, I’d assume that the message is being heard.
Avril sings for the pissed-off chick in all of us, and somehow she’s done it in a way that strikes a chord with pre-teen girls to women in their thirties to excited teenage boys (although perhaps they are there for her long hair and smoky eyes; it does help that the girl is darn gorgeous).
So you see, I entered the concert an apathetic listener and left an ardent fan. Avril’s passionate voice and rocking sound won me over, and certainly didn’t do any damage to the millions of fans who already adore her. Now I understand why they do adore her. And now I’m ready to defend Avril Lavigne to anyone who assumes that she’s just another pop princess.