MANILA, Philippines - Why do young girls love Avril Lavigne?
Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum, the audience at the 23-year-old multi-platinum-selling Canadian singer-songwriter’s concert had an abundance of rapturous female adolescents.
The girls yelled out their excitement with every song―their siren-like voices rising in a wall of sound that seemed to enhance the music. It almost set aside the fact that there were also empty seats. Venue personnel estimated the crowd at around 8,000―a good enough attendance, considering the gig was on a weekday.
But back to the question: What’s so lovable about Avril?
For one, she looks punk although her songs have nothing in common with that genre’s rebellious nature. What Avril has done is incorporate much of punk’s energy, spirit and aural intensity with lyrics that portray teenaged women as strong-willed and confident. These women also express their hurt and vulnerability, but in a manner that allows them to walk away from relationships without having to shed tears.
At the concert, Avril opened with a fast-paced number and then slowed down with “My Happy Ending,” which spoke about breaking up, with sarcasm.
By the third song, she was personifying someone who’s kicking out her boyfriend: “Get off my bed… ”
It helped a lot that Avril’s five-man band played like a top-notch rock ‘n’ roll crew, providing solid backup to her outspoken rants. In “I Always Get What I Want,” the music offered sufficient satisfaction with loud, buzz-saw guitars.
At that point, Avril, who moved onstage like she’s been slowing down and taking it easy after getting married two years ago, suddenly jumped into the front rows (a gesture that never fails to thrill the fans).
But there were indeed moments when she looked tired and just going through the motions demanded by a tour that targeted a young audience given to hysterics. The cheerleader squad routine in “Best Damn Thing” was an example.
A second appealing factor about Avril’s concert act was a flair for drama―from the huge pierced-heart and skull-and-bones logo that served as stage backdrop, to the pink-theme color that dominated the spotlights and embellished the artist’s mic and baby grand, which was rolled out for her to play in the ballad, “When You’re Gone.”
There were acoustic numbers that belied Avril’s punk image, and while singing these songs she was completely a different person―a lady who falls for the promise of romance, enough for her to utter, “Kiss me gently...”
But this was one lady who also flaunted her hip hop/alt-rock influences in “Complicated,” “Girlfriend” and “Sk8er Boi” which closed the show.
It was mind-boggling how 12-year-olds in the audience could appreciate all these, but then kids today behave differently than we did 30 years ago.
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