Avril Lavigne

We'd not been to the Cardiff Arena before, it was my daughter's first indoor gig and as we parked up an hour before doors opened already there was a bustle of eager young girls hardly able to contain their excitement at watching their idol and with them a bemused bunch of adults trying to look nonchalant!

We decided to grab a bite to eat and left the throng to return half an hour after the gates opened and still queue for fifteen minutes to get in. Once inside we headed straight for the merchandise stall and while we queued for the obligatory child size T-shirt, it was amusing to hear almost hysteria every time there was a sound check.

After a short delay the support band Simple Plan brought the older contingent of the audience to the front and got everyone warmed up for the main act.

Once Simple Plan had left the stage a large drape covered the front of the stage with a giant fist, the Bonez tour logo, punching out above us! The lights dimmed, the fervent crowd was awash with flashing lights and glo sticks as a backlight silhouetted Avril onto the drape, her distinctive shadow with low slung guitar began to play He Wasn't, the crowd were going crazy! When she got to the end of the verse the drape fell and the roar from the crowd was truly deafening!



I've been to many concerts in my years but never such a young crowd, with so much energy and the air crackled with excitement. It was quite incredible to be there as these kids mainly girls with an average age of about 14 took the roof off!

It was pleasing also to see a band that appeals to that age, play instruments and sing, and not have a plethora of set/costume changes and loads of dance routines. Instead Avril was belting out the hits and bouncing from one side of the stage to the other. Admittedly her (over) trained voice and her accent meant that when she spoke to us I couldn't understand a word she said but her singing was far more impressive than I'd expected.

Dressed in a tee shirt and jeans and a pair of thick sole DM shoes, supported by her backing band which included the flamboyant Evan Taubenfeld whose face mirrored his guitar work like a classic axe man and who repeatedly threw plectrums into the air only to miss their descent and shake his head ruefully, reaching for another and can also do that spraying fine mist in the air to create his own video moment. The rhythm section were tight and understated - no musical solos here, lighting restrained and intimacy with the crowd the order of the day. Until Sk8er Boi blasts the place apart, and I think my ears are bleeding!



Hit followed hit followed hit, My Happy Ending, Anything But Ordinary, Losing Grip, My World and others interspersed with a slower number Together where Avril sat at a piano, with a red glowing gothic chandelier above her surrounded by purple flowers. After a while she sat stage left on a stool with an acoustic surrounded by glowing red flowers and played Fall To Pieces and Nobody's Home, very slow intimate tracks, as the crowd steamed in the heat, me and the other dad's carrying our daughters on our shoulders were glad of the rest! To be honest Avril's heart rending is best left on vinyl and the bouncy rock works much better live. Okay she has talent and can capture the emotion but the kids around me all want to rock! Hurrah!

She returns to the pace with Unwanted and before we know it the main set is over. I'm confused, is this girl really so young, her voice is way better than I thought, and way better than I saw her at some award ceremony. The darkened stage is back lit and we see the shadow of Avril and her guitarist sat drinking and having a breather before bursting back on stage with another hit Complicated, which all the girls in the crowd belt back at her.

Then she slows it all down hunched over the piano with a song about her dead grandpa, and that's it it's over! No big finale number, a surprise but it works. Girls leave happy with parents (also happy) and my only gripe is that after having my daughter on my shoulders for two acts and nearly four hours, there's no water to be had anywhere, just a giant Avril poster my daughter hugs all the way home!

I have to say I was impressed at the young Canadian, she's gonna be around for a long time!

Set list (we think)
My Happy Ending
Take Me Away
Freak Out
Sk8er Boi
Anything But Ordinary
Who Knows
I'm With You
Mobile
Naked
Losing Grip
Together
Forgotten
Tomorrow
Fall To Pieces
Nobody's Home
Don't Tell Me
Unwanted
Complicated (Encore)
Slipped Away (Encore)

FUTURE GIGS