More News On Avril Lavigne (taken from the star online.)

Tuesday September 2, 2008

Goody two shoes

By IAN YEE

The people opposed to Avril Lavigne’s concert here would be pretty embarrassed when they find out she’s actually more Miley Cyrus than Alanis Morissette.

Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?

This writer thinks that should be our anthem the next time people try to manipulate a concert for their own political agenda because after watching last Friday’s Avril Lavigne concert at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, those people who were opposed to it would feel pretty embarrassed once they find out what Avril is really like.

Bundle of energy: Avril Lavigne giving her all on the stage of Stadium Merdeka during her concert in Kuala Lumpur last Friday. – Photo by GLENN GUAN/The Star

It could be our way of reminding them, like “hey you remember when you botched up over that Avril Lavigne concert? Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?”

The thing is, some obviously uninformed people seem to have this impression of Avril as the angst-ridden teenager, the guitar-trashing punk-rocker or a head-banging junkie.

Oh, please. Don’t tell me you actually thought Avril was like that. Doesn’t mean that because she whacked her Les Paul into some poor guy’s windshield in the Sk8ter Boi video that she’s really some violent, dangerous musician in person? And sorry to shatter all you guys’ dreams out there, but no, she probably doesn’t really skate either.

But I’m telling you, once the 23-year-old Canadian star took to the stage at Stadium Merdeka, the first thing you’d notice was how charming this young lady is. Her voice is almost as sweet as the way she looks, and she never really yelled or screamed to get the crowd going – just cajoling us to sing or wave along.

And when someone as charming as that, singing those annoyingly infectious tunes, asks you to go along with her, you really can’t help but feel compelled to. The 15,000-strong crowd, mostly teens and young adults, were raring for a good night out.

And it really was, a very uncomplicated concert – very simple setting, few musicians, and a few back-up dancers for certain songs. In other words, it was really Avril, which I’m sure was great fun for the throngs of Avril supporters who were there screaming as she went through hits from her three albums.

It started out with a surprisingly subdued, but fun rendition of Girlfriend, and I have to say – Avril is just so adorable! I can’t believe some of those people who protested against her could actually bring themselves to label someone as cute as her, as a threat to our culture and National Day celebrations.

For that first song, she did some of those dance moves fromthe MTV video, and it was just, so, cute! That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the concert as she remained slightly subdued, but yet charming and extremely likeable throughout the night.

I particularly enjoyed the acoustic set in the middle where she showed a bit more of her sensitive side, singing songs like Don’t Tell Me and When You’re Gone. The intimate feel of that part of the concert highlighted Avril’s vocals a bit more, and she managed to deliver pretty well.

Which is why I still don’t really get where this whole assumption that Avril can’t sing comes from. Maybe there’re some YouTube videos of her handling a show badly or something, but on the night, she acquitted herself rather decently. I won’t say she’s a great singer, but she’s definitely good enough to be on stage.

The acoustic set in particular, seemed to be more of Avril’s comfort zone, as she is after all more of a self-taught singer than a professional stage vocalist. The odd difficulty in some big notes aside, I thought she was every bit the accomplished performer. Maybe if she focused more often on her vocals like she did in the acoustic set rather than her jumping around breathlessly to those rock hits, then there’d be fewer accusations of her being a poor singer.

But all in all, I’d have to say this concert was more Miley Cyrus than it was Alanis Morissette in terms of rock factor. And by Alanis Morissette, I mean angry, Jagged Little Pill Alanis. Honestly, I think Miley even packs a bigger punch in her concerts, while Avril is surprisingly, much more intimate, working the crowd by relating with them and talking with them like just another girl next door.

That’s probably the reason why she’s outlasted so many of her peers like Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch. She’s into her third album, and she’s still a bankable star. And that’s because while other female solo artistes out there are more intent on overplaying their celebrity status by being tailed by the paparazzi, or seen at exclusive clubs, Avril prefers to keep it real. And judging by her performance here in Malaysia, that’s something that won’t be changing anytime soon.

If you asked me, that’s the best thing that she can do.

So now tell me again, why’d you have to make things so complicated?