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03 Aug 2005 >>
Jam!
Showbiz |
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Avril Lavigne In Edmonton >> |
It looked like a rock
concert. It smelled like a
rock concert. It even
sounded like a rock concert,
but it didn't feel like a
rock concert - and there's
the fatal flaw in Avril
Lavigne's show at Rexall
Place last night.
Rarely has an event branded
"rock 'n' roll" so utterly
failed to communicate the
spirit of the form. It was
dull, unconvincing, phoned
in, by the numbers, cold,
impersonal, predictable and
almost completely without
soul or passion. I say
"almost" because there were
a couple of her pouty power
ballads that showed a spark
of something genuine. But
those moments were few and
far between. At best, the
whole thing was an
approximation of a rock
concert - all of the
requisite elements, the
stack o' Marshalls and so
on, with very little of the
essence. Most of it just
seemed fake.
TOUGH ROCK-CHICK ROLE
Perhaps I am being too hard
on our young Canadian
superstar? Maybe. But Avril
has always played up the
tough rock-chick role when
her strengths are clearly
elsewhere. She brings it on
herself. Well, where does
she shine? Have I nothing
good to say, you ask? Like I
said, there was a ballad or
two there. The chandelier
descended from the rafters
to mark the "unplugged"
portion of the show. Cue the
sensitive ballads. There was
one called Tomorrow where
she sat cross-legged on the
monitor as her guitarist
strummed, and one called
Nobody's Home where she
accompanied herself before
the band kicked in to ROCK
it up. She also played the
piano for a few of the
slower tunes. Then again,
she doesn't quite have the
voice of Chantal Kreviazuk
to pull off the spooky
piano-diva thing. Her voice
can get a bit shrill at
times.
Some of these points
could've been forgiven had
she offered any real
communication with her fans,
musically or otherwise. But
she didn't. Avril's stage
patter is as canned and dull
as her music. She didn't
introduce the band, say
anything original or offer
anything personal. It's like
she's not talking to the
audience - she's talking at
them.
From the opening chords of
Sk8ter Boi, it was all so
blitheringly predictable.
Here's the part where she
shouts, "Everybody put your
hands in the air!" Here's
the part where she asks the
crowd, "How's everybody
doing today? How's your
summer vacation going?"
Here's the part where she
shouts, "Do you feel
special?!" and puts on a
pair of fake devil horns.
Oh, how telling.
The night wore on. At least
the main set was only an
hour. Then came the
inevitable encore, and there
she was behind the drum kit
dragging the tempo of Blur's
Song 2 and looking very
pleased with herself. Gosh,
what a multi-talented rock
artiste. How can she top
that? It's Complicated, of
course, delivered with a
grimace as if she hates the
song as much as her worst
critics.
How did this pretender get
so popular? With Sony-BMG's
recent $10-million
settlement for bribing radio
stations to play its acts, I
don't trust anything
anymore. All I know is the
12,500 screaming young fans
who came to this alleged
rock concert deserved
better.
JUNIOR BON JOVI?
Opening act Butch Walker was
actually more entertaining,
even though no one had a
clue who he was. He had all
the hallmarks of the perfect
rock star - the hair, the
energy, the showmanship, the
drama, the ego, the
different guitar for every
song, the mooshy power
ballads, the bad-boy persona
just bad enough to appeal to
11-year-old girls without
scaring their moms too much
- but not a single song that
anyone recognized. Was he
even for real? I have to
conclude that this Junior
Bon Jovi was created in the
secret Rock Star Lab in
Nevada. It's the same place
that stamped out boy bands.
Just set the dial on "rock
star" and there's Butch.
He'll go far.
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