Originally Posted by Al_C
CONCERT REVIEW: Avril Lavigne at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT, April 12, 2008
When Avril Lavigne first burst onto the music scene with her 2003 album debut, Let Go, I did not pay her much attention. After all, there were several other young girls making music, like Celine Dion and Jewel, and I thought that Avril was just another Celine or Jewel.
Then I heard Complicated on the radio, and I said to myself “Hey, that was a really good song”. So I went on the net, found a few bootlegs, and liked them too. Then I took the plunge, plunked $15.00 down on Let Go, and was hooked ever since.
Unfortunately, all of this happened in the last two years, so I never saw Avril in concert, that was until Saturday, April 12, 2008. That night, I, along with a sellout crowd of Avril fans, were treated to a brilliant, high energy performance from the singer I once dismissed as just another young girl.
Despite what many of us read about too much of this, that or the other thing, I found that every aspect of the concert was done just right. Every moment of her 90 minute set was packed with just the right amount of energy to keep everything and everybody moving forward. Even during Avril’s three costume changes, something was happening on stage, whether a fast moving video, acrobatics by the dancers, or something else to just keep the energy flowing.
The set opened with, not surprisingly, Girlfriend. But Avril didn’t just step out and start singing. Her musicians played an intro to the computer graphics that were on the stage’s backdrop, starting the energy flowing. Then the dancers came out, and the energy flowed faster. Then Avril rose from a hydraulic lift in stage center, and the singing started.
After Girlfriend, the next song was I Can Do Better, followed by Complicated, the one that started it all for me, and then My Happy Ending.
I tried writing a set list, but to no avail, so I will work out of memory for the rest of the set. It went something like this: I’m With You, When You’re Gone, Innocence, Hot, Losing Grip, Don’t Tell Me, Runaway, Hey Mickey, I Always Get What I Want, I Don’t Have To Try, The Best Damn Thing, and an encore of Girlfriend Remix and Sk8ter Boi. Then the set ended the way it started, with Avril disappearing on the same hydraulic platform she rose from in the beginning.
The volume was definitely on the loud side and so was the screaming from the crowd. Even as a veteran rocker, having heard much louder in the past, I held my ears during some of the screaming.
Now, I have seen past Avril concerts on boots I got from the net as well as on the My World DVD, and while I think that the quality of the written music was better on Let Go and Under My Skin, this concert was definitely a better production. The choreography was brilliant, the orchestrations were marvelous, and Avril’s voice improved noticeably with age. Even songs such as I’m With You, during which she always struggled in the past to stay on key, came out with smooth artistic precision. She did struggle a bit with her vocals during When You’re Gone, probably because the piano was too much of a distraction for her. But the drums during Runaway did not bother her voice, nor did the guitar, which was more of a third arm to her than anything else.
This tour is a must see for Avril fans, and for you non-Avril fans, if someone is trying to drag you into the arena, don’t put up a fight. You will enjoy the set and may even join our ranks.
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