Avril Lavigne Bandaids: The Best Damn Avril Lavigne Fansite - View Single Post - The EPIC Review -- Avril Lavigne Live in Toronto, Kingston & London

***Sharifa*** · 04-11-2008, 07:59 PM

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</o> LONDON – PRE-SHOW ADVENTURES & MEET WITH AVRIL

Next came the London concert at the John Labatt Centre. Rachel, Bri, and Lauren lined up at around 9:30 AM and Adam joined them shortly after. I stopped by the line for a bit around 11:30 AM but had to leave to attend my last Special Topics in Logical Theory class of the year. It sounds like while I was gone the gang had some interesting times in line. I’ll let them elaborate on what went down if they choose

I went back to the venue around 4:30 and Adam and I made sure to hand a Bandaids promo card to everyone in line. The line was HUGE compared to Toronto and Kingston. While we were chilling we also spotted Avril driving by in a limo and sneaking a peak at the line! She had the window rolled down half way – it was soooooo cute.

At around 6:00 PM we left Bri, Rachel, and Lauren to head over to the meet & greet. We met Lizzie the VIP coordinator (who is exceptionally good at her job

) and went in to the pre-party. We also ran into two Bandaiders at the pre-party which was way cool to see! They had a decent array of food at the event and handed out a few raffle prizes and then at 6:45 or so the Hot package people were escorted to the floor to take their positions leaving everyone for the meet & greet (close to 70 people) behind.

Lizzie then explained what would be happening for the meet & greet. She was like, “Okay so we’re doing the radio and TV winners first, then the platinum package holders, and then the Bandaids, and then family and friends.” So awesome! They walked us over to this other hallway and we waited for our turn to see Avril. In the meanwhile, we heard Boys Like Girls starting their set on stage. Adam was a bit bummed that he didn’t get to see them again, but I think we got the better end of the deal!

After about half an hour, Adam and I got into the room to see Avril. She gave us both big hugs right off the bat. The room was only separated by a curtain from the main part of the arena and I commented that it was loud. Avril said that they had never done the M&G like that before, but that it must have been the only room available. She asked me how I liked the show in Kingston and I told her that she definitely stepped it up a notch for her hometown! I also mentioned the story of my car breaking down in Napanee :P. Then I asked her how her Grandma liked the show in Toronto and she said that she was worried it might be too loud for her but her Grandma thought it was a good show.

Next we gave her the package from Bandaids including a bunch of stuff from Invisible Children, two Bandaids shirts, a copy of Writers Block by Peter, Bjorn, and John, and the package of Avril fan letters that you guys sent in

. Adam put it all in a cool African satchel bag which rather fittingly completed the Invisible Children theme. Adam started talking to Avril about our fundraising efforts with Invisible Children and she was really interested in finding out more about the organization. Adam made this neat 3-D booklet to commemorate the initiative which Avril totally loved. She seemed pretty darn proud of us and said, “That’s awesome that you guys raised money for them!”

Following this, we presented her with the two Bandaids t-shirts and she got a kick out of the “My Fansite Can Beat Up Your Fansite” one

. I asked if she would mind taking a photo holding it up and she ended up just throwing it on and posing for a photo with it! She also took a photo holding up the second “I’m not a Groupie… I’m a Band-Aid” shirt. Then she signed a bunch of autographs for the site and Adam and I jumped in for photos with her as well!

Adam then asked her about the rumoured “Control Room” Tour EP and she said that it’s not true, but don’t worry I told her that she should release one

. Adam also asked if there were more tour dates and she said that all the dates so far have already been announced and told us a bit more about what the next few months will look like. I asked if she would be visiting Australia at all and she said probably not because she’d be way too tired. Adam and I both said that’s too bad, but that it made sense. Then I mentioned that even after following her for just three days I was already worn out and it must have been crazy for her to do Calgary, Toronto, Kingston, then London in just four days!

Then *BEST PART RIGHT HERE* she chuckled and said, “What did you think about me not winning any Junos?” Adam and I both started laughing and said that she should have definitely won. She said that her manager Terry McBride had told her that most of the Juno voters are with Universal and that’s who Feist is with which is why she ended up winning so many awards and she said it’s the same deal with the Grammy’s. Then I said that I take it as a personal offence when she doesn’t win a fan voted award and she was like “Terry tells me that sometimes the fan choice awards aren’t even picked by the fans.” So uncool!

She talked about performing Girlfriend at the show and I asked her why she decided not to do The Best Damn Thing. She said that she did the song in soundcheck and something didn’t feel right so she flew her dancers in that night and did Girlfriend instead. Then I mentioned that the host Russell Peters really liked her and talked about her so often that it was practically the Avril Tribute Show at times and she was like, “Good! At least I got some airtime :P”

Adam also told her that we were thinking of going to the Fairfax show with the Black List Club and she seemed pretty excited to hear that! She asked me for my phone number to get in touch closer to the show. Then she asked if she would be seeing us in the front row again tonight and I said “Hopefully!” After a little bit longer we said our good-byes and left the room.

As we were walking down to the GA floor, we ran into one of Avril’s male dancers Venom. Adam and I introduced ourselves and told him about the site and how amazing we thought the break dancing sequences were! Adam told him that basically all the tour reviews mention the Linkin Park routine and he was pleased that the reviews were so positive! He seemed really interested in the site and we asked him if he would be cool with doing an interview some time and he hooked us up with his contact info. He told us that he’s also performed with Janet Jackson and Gwen Stefani and that he got the gig through a private audition and that he knew Lindsey before. I then asked if he and Casper (the other male dancer) had done stuff together before (because seriously, on stage they look like twins) and he mentioned that they would compete against each other a lot in dance contests around the US. We eventually let him go and wished him good luck on the show

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LONDON – THE CONCERT

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Adam and I then made our way to the VIP section of the floor. It sounds like things were pretty disorganized for the GA admittance, but fortunately Bri, Rachel, and Lauren all made it to the front row! We shared notes from the past hour and they told us how crazy the crowd was getting. Fittingly, as I was talking to them, security pulled someone out of the crowd for pushing. It seemed to be a steady stream of people being removed for either fainting or being too aggressive in the crowd. We were about 3 rows back from the stage (my three-year front row streak finally came to an end

), but the chicks in front of us were short so it wasn’t too bad! They had the same set-up in Toronto where VIPs were allowed to stand right in front of the stage and not just off to the side.

Anyways, around 20 minutes passed and then they turned off the lights and the show started! Once again, it was an excellent performance and Avril was even more talkative with the crowd. Right at the beginning my camera died though, so I grabbed Bri’s cam and snapped shots on it all night instead. Definite highlights include the beginning of I Don’t Have to Try when Avril asked for all the guys to scream and Adam was basically the only guy

Also, during the last song Sk8er Boi, Avril waved at Rachel & Bri which I was so happy to see!

After the show, I had to jet to a work commitment so I left the gang for a bit but we met back up at 11 PM down the road from the JLC (yes, at a Pizza Pizza) to share all the details from the past three days. It was such a crazy experience that I kind of can’t believe that all of this happened in just 72 hours, but then again Avril always makes life more interesting

Let me know if you have any questions about anything that went down!

Next stop: Fairfax!

04-11-2008, 07:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
*Sharifa* Administrator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: At Huron "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" University College in London, Ontario Gender: Posts: 22,254 Total Points: 1,411,726.00 Donate	<o> </o> LONDON – PRE-SHOW ADVENTURES & MEET WITH AVRIL Next came the London concert at the John Labatt Centre. Rachel, Bri, and Lauren lined up at around 9:30 AM and Adam joined them shortly after. I stopped by the line for a bit around 11:30 AM but had to leave to attend my last Special Topics in Logical Theory class of the year. It sounds like while I was gone the gang had some interesting times in line. I’ll let them elaborate on what went down if they choose I went back to the venue around 4:30 and Adam and I made sure to hand a Bandaids promo card to everyone in line. The line was HUGE compared to Toronto and Kingston. While we were chilling we also spotted Avril driving by in a limo and sneaking a peak at the line! She had the window rolled down half way – it was soooooo cute. At around 6:00 PM we left Bri, Rachel, and Lauren to head over to the meet & greet. We met Lizzie the VIP coordinator (who is exceptionally good at her job ) and went in to the pre-party. We also ran into two Bandaiders at the pre-party which was way cool to see! They had a decent array of food at the event and handed out a few raffle prizes and then at 6:45 or so the Hot package people were escorted to the floor to take their positions leaving everyone for the meet & greet (close to 70 people) behind. Lizzie then explained what would be happening for the meet & greet. She was like, “Okay so we’re doing the radio and TV winners first, then the platinum package holders, and then the Bandaids, and then family and friends.” So awesome! They walked us over to this other hallway and we waited for our turn to see Avril. In the meanwhile, we heard Boys Like Girls starting their set on stage. Adam was a bit bummed that he didn’t get to see them again, but I think we got the better end of the deal! After about half an hour, Adam and I got into the room to see Avril. She gave us both big hugs right off the bat. The room was only separated by a curtain from the main part of the arena and I commented that it was loud. Avril said that they had never done the M&G like that before, but that it must have been the only room available. She asked me how I liked the show in Kingston and I told her that she definitely stepped it up a notch for her hometown! I also mentioned the story of my car breaking down in Napanee :P. Then I asked her how her Grandma liked the show in Toronto and she said that she was worried it might be too loud for her but her Grandma thought it was a good show. Next we gave her the package from Bandaids including a bunch of stuff from Invisible Children, two Bandaids shirts, a copy of Writers Block by Peter, Bjorn, and John, and the package of Avril fan letters that you guys sent in . Adam put it all in a cool African satchel bag which rather fittingly completed the Invisible Children theme. Adam started talking to Avril about our fundraising efforts with Invisible Children and she was really interested in finding out more about the organization. Adam made this neat 3-D booklet to commemorate the initiative which Avril totally loved. She seemed pretty darn proud of us and said, “That’s awesome that you guys raised money for them!” Following this, we presented her with the two Bandaids t-shirts and she got a kick out of the “My Fansite Can Beat Up Your Fansite” one . I asked if she would mind taking a photo holding it up and she ended up just throwing it on and posing for a photo with it! She also took a photo holding up the second “I’m not a Groupie… I’m a Band-Aid” shirt. Then she signed a bunch of autographs for the site and Adam and I jumped in for photos with her as well! Adam then asked her about the rumoured “Control Room” Tour EP and she said that it’s not true, but don’t worry I told her that she should release one . Adam also asked if there were more tour dates and she said that all the dates so far have already been announced and told us a bit more about what the next few months will look like. I asked if she would be visiting Australia at all and she said probably not because she’d be way too tired. Adam and I both said that’s too bad, but that it made sense. Then I mentioned that even after following her for just three days I was already worn out and it must have been crazy for her to do Calgary, Toronto, Kingston, then London in just four days! Then BEST PART RIGHT HERE she chuckled and said, “What did you think about me not winning any Junos?” Adam and I both started laughing and said that she should have definitely won. She said that her manager Terry McBride had told her that most of the Juno voters are with Universal and that’s who Feist is with which is why she ended up winning so many awards and she said it’s the same deal with the Grammy’s. Then I said that I take it as a personal offence when she doesn’t win a fan voted award and she was like “Terry tells me that sometimes the fan choice awards aren’t even picked by the fans.” So uncool! She talked about performing Girlfriend at the show and I asked her why she decided not to do The Best Damn Thing. She said that she did the song in soundcheck and something didn’t feel right so she flew her dancers in that night and did Girlfriend instead. Then I mentioned that the host Russell Peters really liked her and talked about her so often that it was practically the Avril Tribute Show at times and she was like, “Good! At least I got some airtime :P” Adam also told her that we were thinking of going to the Fairfax show with the Black List Club and she seemed pretty excited to hear that! She asked me for my phone number to get in touch closer to the show. Then she asked if she would be seeing us in the front row again tonight and I said “Hopefully!” After a little bit longer we said our good-byes and left the room. As we were walking down to the GA floor, we ran into one of Avril’s male dancers Venom. Adam and I introduced ourselves and told him about the site and how amazing we thought the break dancing sequences were! Adam told him that basically all the tour reviews mention the Linkin Park routine and he was pleased that the reviews were so positive! He seemed really interested in the site and we asked him if he would be cool with doing an interview some time and he hooked us up with his contact info. He told us that he’s also performed with Janet Jackson and Gwen Stefani and that he got the gig through a private audition and that he knew Lindsey before. I then asked if he and Casper (the other male dancer) had done stuff together before (because seriously, on stage they look like twins) and he mentioned that they would compete against each other a lot in dance contests around the US. We eventually let him go and wished him good luck on the show . <o></o><o></o> LONDON – THE CONCERT <o></o> Adam and I then made our way to the VIP section of the floor. It sounds like things were pretty disorganized for the GA admittance, but fortunately Bri, Rachel, and Lauren all made it to the front row! We shared notes from the past hour and they told us how crazy the crowd was getting. Fittingly, as I was talking to them, security pulled someone out of the crowd for pushing. It seemed to be a steady stream of people being removed for either fainting or being too aggressive in the crowd. We were about 3 rows back from the stage (my three-year front row streak finally came to an end ), but the chicks in front of us were short so it wasn’t too bad! They had the same set-up in Toronto where VIPs were allowed to stand right in front of the stage and not just off to the side. Anyways, around 20 minutes passed and then they turned off the lights and the show started! Once again, it was an excellent performance and Avril was even more talkative with the crowd. Right at the beginning my camera died though, so I grabbed Bri’s cam and snapped shots on it all night instead. Definite highlights include the beginning of I Don’t Have to Try when Avril asked for all the guys to scream and Adam was basically the only guy Also, during the last song Sk8er Boi, Avril waved at Rachel & Bri which I was so happy to see! After the show, I had to jet to a work commitment so I left the gang for a bit but we met back up at 11 PM down the road from the JLC (yes, at a Pizza Pizza) to share all the details from the past three days. It was such a crazy experience that I kind of can’t believe that all of this happened in just 72 hours, but then again Avril always makes life more interesting Let me know if you have any questions about anything that went down! Next stop: Fairfax!