[Jimmyzz]

Converse-wearing diva puts on refreshing show

By Dayna Harpster


Avril Lavigne performs at her concert in Tampa.

Avril Lavigne concert at the Florida State Fairgrounds amphitheater in Tampa, lessons learned:

1. At a show by a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice winner (Lavigne in 2005), expect an attack of the screaming tweenies. Attending a concert opened by Boys Like Girls last Saturday night were plenty of 12- and 13-year-old girls wearing black and sporting a hot pink stripe on one side of their (mostly long) hair. Just like their idol's. And they screamed when Lavigne played piano. When she played guitar. When she played drums. When she sang. When she breathed.

2. If you're accustomed to the modern female pop star only in the Britney-Christina model, prepare for a pleasant surprise. Lavigne, 24, belts out some pretty empowering lyrics. And not just in the I'm-sexy-don't-you-want-me style. Let's see, there was Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" in late 1999: "I feel like I've been locked up tight for a century of lonely nights, waiting for someone, to release me."

Compare Lavigne's "He Wasn't": "He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no. He wouldn't even open up the door. He never made me feel like I was special. He isn't really what I'm looking for. ... we've all got choices ... we've all got voices."

3. There are diva shoes, and there are dancing shoes. Lavigne apparently owns more than 100 pairs of Converse shoes, and we'll swear she was wearing black high-top Chuck Taylors. The French Canadian grown-up skater girl moves like she's comfortable with herself, and is sexy without being shameless. Speaking of dancing, the team that took the stage during Lavigne's encore - "Sk8ter Boi" and the "Girlfriend" remix -was like an Olympics-worthy version of MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew." They were crazy good.

4. Chatter between songs can be unpretentious, and more meaningful than "meeting" the backups and their backups.

It was fun to hear Lavigne say how great it was to be outside in Florida, having been on a whole tour of looking at "concrete buildings." She said she sat for a while in the sun in a "lawn chair" and rode around that afternoon on a golf cart - a fact verified by the mom and 13-year-old next to us, who said they saw her with "some guy" (was it husband Deryck Whibley of Sum 41?) and Lavigne even waved to them.

5. Concert security may not have improved too much since 1969, when the Rolling Stones played the Altamont Speedway.

The middle-age woman with tattooed arms and a long brown braid who was ruling our aisle might as well have been a Hell's Angel, accusing me of videotaping when I used an iron hand rail like a tripod. It was dark and I needed to be steady to take sharp stills. I tried to explain.

She countered. "I have a digital camera too, and you're videotaping. You're standing there too long to be taking pictures."

I had a choice. I used my voice. No, I didn't get escorted from the premises. How empowering.

6. There's one lesson yet to be learned. About the "Best Damn Tour" T-shirt ($30) we bought: Can a middle-schooler wear those words to school?

- Dayna Harpster dharpster@news-press.com

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