Birmingham - March 20th 2003 by Dillon - Try To Shut Me Up Tour

[Sharifa]

Try To Shut Me Up Tour Review

Concert: Birmingham

Reviewer: Dillon

Date: March 20th 2003



Well, this is now the third time I have seen Avril and was by far the best gig to date. The London Astoria gig was amazing and I was lucky enough to get tickets to see her in Belgium a few weeks ago, again that gig was excellent too.The Belgium gig was brilliant but in places was a little patchy, at times Avril appeared hesitant. I guess her show just needed to be smoothed round the edges. For this reason I wasn't looking forward to last nights gig as much as I should have been, don't get me wrong, i was excited but i didn't have the goosebumps !
I work in Birmingham so it was a short journey to the gig last night. The first thing that struck me was the average age seemed higher than the previous gigs i'd been to. Gone were most of the school kids and in their place college and uni students. Still plenty of women though !! The Birmingham Academy is a huge venue and was absolutely packed, yet again people were trying desperately to buy tickets on the street, how refreshing a change is that !!
After a huge wait, Our Lady Peace came on stage and were yet again excellent, Somewhere Out There and We Are All Innocent being the pick of their tunes. My opinions on the war don't matter and I believe that bands shouldn't comment either - for this reason I was a bit annoyed that the lead singer spent so long shouting anti-war retoric. Not the time and place I thought. On this point it was another sign of Avril's greatness that she chose wisely not to mention it.
Avril came on stage to Sk8er Boi and the place went mad - I mean mad. The goosebumps came back and things were on track !!! She played the usual set which basically consisted of the Album and I don't give a damn. In belgium she messed around with the Bass guitar on Mobile and I didn't like it. This time round it was amazing. In fact the whole set was absolutely incredible. This is the third time I have seen her and I had the same energy as someone seeing her for the first time.
A couple of things happened, namely a guy in a red coat stormed the stage and ran towards Avril. The security ran towards him and the band looked alarmed !! Avril stood still and laughed into the Mic, smiling at the intruder. Before calmly saying into the mic "He must have some balls to come up here". She is sooo cool !!! I have never liked Evan and i've always thought that he was arrogant and ****y, last night he had a huge fan club and to be fair to him, he looed taken aback by it and was very modest with it. I've changed my mind about him now and he too put in a great performance ! Go Evan !
One huge thing I have left to last is ............Avril sang GREEN DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Half way through the set I heard the chords and couldn't believe it, then she started "Do you have the time, to listen ...... " Avril was singing Basket Case, I expected her to stop at any second, she didn't and sang the whole song !! I love Green Day and of course Avril. All i could think to do was to shout and ask Avril to marry me !!!!
Overall an impecable performance and an amazing experience. Avril looked stunning in a black t-shirt and combats. She played the entire set with a huge grin and plenty of energy, this was passed back into the crowd and the atmosphere was like no concert i have been to before - this includes Oasis at Knebworth !!! So many more things made this a great night but I have waffled enough !!! If any of you are going to her future gigs have a great time !!! I swear Avril was looking at me last night when she was singing tomorrow Lol
Dillon - England