Finally! The lights went down and we were ready for Avril to take the stage. No more shitty music. No more waiting in line twice. No more security guards with big noses. No more crap. It was time to have some Avril.
The curtains pulled down and the band started to play. They played a broken down version of "Girlfriend" as an intro. Then, on the big screen appeared Avril's name. It was being spelled out very slowly, like in the "Girlfriend Remix" video, with graffiti. Then her name split into two AV-RIL, AV-RIL, AV-RIL, AV-RIL. The entire crowd chanted along with the screen like there was no tomorrow. The beat to "Girlfriend" was echoing throughout the stadium. Everyone was passing energy around, waiting for Avril to appear on stage. Finally, Avril rose out on the top platform by her band members on a lift. I started crying my eyes out. It wasn't one of those girly cries. I cried like a man. My tears were from the adrenaline I had from seeing Avril. Keep in mind it's been three years since I'd seen her in concert last, so this was a big moment for me. I was crying on and off for the first few songs just because I couldn't believe the moment had finally come.
One thing you have to understand about me is that I'm crazy at concerts. Like I'm a really chill guy, it may not seem like it around here, but I'm so laid back in regular life. At concerts, I'm crazy. I don't care what people care about me. I was probably the most crazy person in the place. The people behind me didn't like me very much because I was jumping up and down the entire concert. My arms were in the air the entire time. People behind me came up to me after the concert to tell me how crazy I was...in a good way. Even people in the seats had noticed me. I wasn't embarrassed at all.
After Girlfriend, she sang "I Can Do Better" this was one of my favorite performances of the night for a few reasons. Firstly, she sang the whole thing perfectly and it was great to get the crowd staying pumped. The dancers also did a great job on this song. The main reason why this was one of my favorite performances was because she pointed us out during the song. Remember how a security guard for Sum 41 texted her to tell her we were going to be at the show? (see above) Well, she was definitely looking out for us. She didn't point at anybody during the entire show, so this was really special for us. She pointed at us and looked directly into our eyes as if she was acknowledging how important Bandaids is to her. It was so great that she knew where we were right at the beginning.
She moved on to sing "Complicated" and "My Happy Ending". They were huge sing-along-songs because everybody in the place knew these songs by heart more than any other song. One of her best vocal performances was "I'm With You", which she dedicated to her fans. She featured the fans in the front row on the big screen during this song. Apparantly we were up there, but I never saw.
Her performance of "When You're Gone" was flawless. There was no malfunction with the piano, so she was good to go. She was oozing with talent during this performance. She went on to sing "Innocence" which was also flawless. Though she didn't perform the high note on the bridge, she did add in a run towards the end which went just as high as the bridge would have. It was another flawless performance.
The acoustic set was really rad. She performed "Hot" which was even better than the Roxy Theater performance. She also performed "Losing Grip" and "Don't Tell Me" in the acoustic setting. Though some of these songs were shortened, they were all within context. To be honest, most of the crowd didn't even notice that they were shortened. She only takes out like one verse and it keeps it very interesting.
A really cool part of the night was the performance of "Runaway" where she played the drums. She teased the crowd into thinking that she didn't really know how to play the drums. She rocked out like there was no tomorrow. I was amazed that she could sing and play drums at the same time. I don't know who came up with the idea for her to do that, whether it was Avril or someone else, but whoever did, thank you. After "Runaway", she performed a snippet from the song "Mickey" which we all know from the movie Bring It On. She only sang the chorus to this song, and she did a damn good job at it.
Eventually, she went for a costume change where we saw the "Bad Reputation" video. I'm still in love with it, and I hope she releases it on the next single. Another great part of the night was when she performed "The Best Damn Thing". Being her next single, she was trying to get the crowd very into it. It was great to see the video behind her. Eventually, the dancers came out in their cheerleading uniforms to dance during the bridge. It was very symbolic because they represented us, in a sense. On the back of their uniforms, it read "Team Avril", a team that many of us are on.
I really enjoyed the performance of "Everything Back But You". Though it's not my favorite song off the record, it was very rock and it shook the place up. She introduced her band members during that performance. Unfortunately, I missed part of that because a girl next to me passed out during the performance. I wanted to get the names of her male dancers that we don't know well yet and introduce them to our inner circle.
"He Wasn't" was probably the funniest performance of the night. She got the crowd so involved at the beginning. She took us on a rollercoaster of fun throughout the intro. She got us to put our hands up and down and clap and do backflips. We didn't do backflips, I'm just seeing if you're actually paying attention to what I'm writing. I've put more thought into this than anything I've ever written and I apologize fore that. "He Wasn't" brought a good vocal performance and all the chicks were singing along.
Eventually, she tempted the guys to act like they wear the pants. When she asked us if we wore the pants, I was probably the only guy in the venue screaming at the top of my lungs. I have no girlfriend either, which is really ironic. But I guess that means that I wear the pants. I think there were about 20 people around me staring at me. The girls overwhelmed her when she asked them the same question. Apparantly the girls wear the pants at this concert. Avril proclaimed herself that she also wears the pants, leaving us all to wonder what Deryck thinks of that. She delivered a grand performance of the song and got everyone in the place on their feet. It was a very PG performance. She sang the clean version, while I sang the dirty version while giving my middle finger everytime she used the MFer word. I was hoping none of the children saw that.
She departed the stage and left everyone screaming her name for an encore. Of course she already had one planned, but it was fun to scream her name anyways. The place could've been silent and sweet little Avril would've still come out for the encore. The stage lit up one final time as her dancers, not including Sofi and Lindsey, came out and danced. They did flips and jumps and breakdanced like crazy. I was amazed. Avril rose out of the lift just like at the beginning of the show, but with Sofi and Lindsey this time. She rapped the "Girlfriend Remix" and did a great job at it. I was never convinced that Avril would do a great job rapping, but she truly did. I was in awe at how awesome the performance was. At first, when I heard she was performing this, I was a bit skeptical, but it was one of the most memorable things of the night because it was different. I love a chick that dares to be different.
She closed the show with one of her biggest singles, "Sk8er Boi" as mostly everybody jumped. I found it ironic that she used to open with this song and now she closes with it. It's obviously very special to her...hmm I wonder why. The star symbol from the Let Go era was plastered all over the stage as we were reminded me of the first time I ever saw the "Sk8er Boi" video. She did a great job and thanked the crowd for being so great.
As she ran off the stage, I wasn't disappointed that the show was over, because I know this isn't the last time I'll see her. Hopefully I'm provided with opportunities to see her many times this tour. Overall, the show was fucktastic! I've never used that word before, but it seems fitting in this situation. She did a stellar job during her performance and I look forward to the next concert.
The dancing was excellent. For all of you that dislike the dancers, you need to go to this tour. You need to appreciate the art of dancing. They are amazing at what they do. They can do back flips while standing. It was amazing. They provided so much energy. Don't worry though, they didn't hog the entire show. They were present for the up beat songs and took breaks for the slower songs. It was the perfect mixture. I wanted to meet all of them.
I was overwhelmed at the number of Boys Like Girls fans at the concert. I didn't think they were that popular until I came to the show. I was disappointed by the fact that there were people there that only wanted to see Boys Like Girls and not Avril. Some people hated Avril and I heard a few comments. Did I confront them, yeah I did. We all have our opinions though, and I respect that. It's just a matter of whether our opinion is right or wrong. In this case, their opinion is wrong.
The feedback I was hearing from other fans was phenomenal. While I was standing in line waiting for merchandise, people were talking about the show, and I was listening. There were hardcore rock metal people that were amazed by her performance. I wanted to hug them, but that would've been seriously awkward. I thought it was hilarious when I was talking to this guy behind me in the crowd before the show started. We were talking about music and I asked if he was a pretty big Avril fan and he looked at his girlfriend. So I asked him, "Oh, did you girlfriend drag you here?" and they looked at eachother and laughed. He actually dragged her there. It just shows how diverse Avril's fans were. After the show there were little kids that belonged in elementary school running around. There were mothers and fathers and grandparents and lots of chicks and a good amount of guys that wanted to pretend like they weren't there.
After the show, Katie pointed out to me that there was something on my shirt. I looked closely at it and it was all silver and there were a good ten holes in it. The metal from the barrier ripped through my shirt from jumping up and down so many times. I was kind of mad because I love that shirt, it's an Avril shirt. Though I've officially retired it out of my closet, it was very symbolic of this whole experience for me. The concert was such a change from The Bonez Tour, the era from which this shirt was from. Though I'll dearly miss that Avril shirt, I'm okay for a change. I love change. Change is good. In Avril's case, the changes she's made has turned into so much success. This tour was the best move she's ever made. She'll be moving on to even more change, and I can't wait until the next tour when I accidentally rip another shirt. It'll be the best damn thing.
