Avril's Concert In Sg (taken from MTVasia webby)

I don't really agree with what she said on it not being the Best Damn Concert; cause it was to me despite the fact it was short. Cause Avril has talent and she's the shy type. So I'm not suprise that she didn't talk much like usually how the stars do in concert. It was all about her performance as a singer/performer and she did AWESOME!

XOXO
JenN


By Cheryl Leong

Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium
September 07, 2008

'Pretty in Punk' was definitely the order of the day, as scores of teenyboppers dressed up in the style of their favorite punk princess, Avril Lavigne. Think: skinny ties, knee-high socks, and the ubiquituous skull-and-crossbones. Oh, and plenty of the hottest pink around, of course.

After an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting, the pint-sized rocker finally deigned to make an entrance at 9.15pm (about time...), with her rousing crowd-pleaser "Girlfriend." The patient audience was treated to pink overload as the backdrop of the stage revealed Lavigne's pink, signature skull-and-crossbones banner. With every few songs, Avril would flash a cheeky grin, and flit backstage, presumably for a touch-up, clothing change, a gulp of water, who knows? But in her stead, would come dancers to entertain the crowd with a spot of breakdance.

Let it be said, once and for all, that Avril Lavigne can sing. Oh, she's no Mariah Carey, that's for sure. And she does play safe by not stretching her vocals just in case she doesn't hit the notes the way she does in the studio. But for all the criticism panning the young punkster for her less-than-perfect vocals, Avril has indeed improved by leaps and bounds.

She handled screamy, girl-power anthems like "The Best Damn Thing," "He Wasn't" and "I Can Do Better" rather admirably. Her vocals were steady, at least, and not as pitchy as expected. It was also a pleasant surprise to have a grand piano (pink, duh!) wheeled out, where Lavigne launched into a laudable effort at the heartrending "When You're Gone."

Although there wasn't much interaction with the crowd beyond the usual "Hello Singapore!"-"How are you doing?"-"Are you having fun?" routine, Avril did display a relatively warm stage persona. At one point, she was even playfully directing her band and the crowd with hand signals, which was actually pretty endearing.

There was an even mix of songs from all three of her albums. But one gripe among several was that Lavigne only sang a few songs to completion. A lot of them were just verse-chorus snippets. A disappointment for some, who like me, wanted to hear our favorite hits in full. The fact that there was even an encore also escaped our notice.

Lavigne last disappeared backstage yet again, and a change of backdrop and outfit later, came out spouting the rap for the remixed version of "Girlfriend." Suffice to say, I'm not the only one who didn't realize that this was the implicit signal of an encore performance. With the mother of all tracks, for skater boys out there who fall hopelessly in love with snooty brats, Lavigne closed the Singapore leg of her concert with happy "Thank You's" and "I Love You's."

As much as Lavigne is perky and adorable, there was a sore lack of the adrenaline high which usually followed after a good, stimulating concert. Instead, a feeling of dissatisfaction settled in as the concert ended after a mere hour and fifteen minutes, just when you're about to hit the high.

Avril Lavigne might be the reigning punk princess, but this was certainly not the best damn tour around.


Set List:
1) Girlfriend
2) I Can Do Better
3) My Happy Ending
4) Don't Tell Me
5) I'm With You
6) I Always Get What I Want
7) When You're Gone
8) Innocence
9) Hot
10) Losing Grip
11) The Best Damn Thing
12) Everything Back But You
13) I Don't Have To Try
14) Complicated
15) Runaway
16) He Wasn't

Encore:
17) Girlfriend (Remix)
18) Sk8er Boi