It was a weekend of royalty and Avril Lavigne lives on as the pop punk people’s princess. The O2 Apollo was packed out on the night of King Charles III’s coronation and the top selling Canadian star brought nostalgia and fun.
To kick off the show, a film showing the star’s 21 year career brought the audience right back to 2002 and the release of Let It Go, an album that inspired for years.
The video ends and Avril appears on stage. Her iconic waist length hair is shorter and the audience’s reaction to her apparition drowns out the start of 'Bite Me'. Phones light up the auditorium to film What The Hell. The song starts acapella, with just Avril - and the 3,500 audience members screaming the lyrics.
The whole of the venue is bathed is black and red light, with giant black, red and orange balloons appearing among the audience. For 'Complicated', Avril pulls a classic black hoodie up over her head. It’s the first song she wrote aged just 17 and is just as poignant and classic some 21 years later, giving mood and angst.
As the song ends, Avril disappears off stage, but the band keeps the song up smashing stunning solos. We’re watching the ‘Love Sux’ tour and Avril Lavigne reappears to talk about her seventh album and thanks the audience for being with her for two decades.
'I’m a Mess', a new song with Yung Blood, starts and while the featured artist isn’t available, a prerecorded vocal joins Avril's live rendition. It’s an odd mix and hopefully not the future of how to sing a duet on stage.
Avril Lavigne has the energy of someone not about to turn 39 and suddenly has a bottle of some spirit in hand, giggling into the mic that ‘it’s time to get the party started‘ and begins feeding shots to her band while introducing them and recounting their decades of service.
After everyone is well fed, a cover starts. It’s Spice Girls. It’s 'Wannabe'. The crowd aren’t nearly as excited as they should be for this moment.
'Girlfriend' starts and thousands of women relive their childhoods of pink skull and black heart motifs. 'Sk8er Boi' is just as iconic, bringing the memories of crushes on lads with baggy jeans from the early 2000s into the moment. The crowd are mental, the lights are popping off and Avril is rocking her heart out.
The lights go down for a moment and the encore kicks off with a video. It’s artful, dynamic and shows a variety of water. The mood has changed, we’re no longer reliving our teen years. We’ve grown.
'Head Above Water' is followed by 'I’m With You'. My friend screams. It’s popular. It’s from the debut album, it holds emotions for many here tonight and that’s reflected in the moody blue lighting and the audience’s decision to sing solemnly and yet louder than the star.
Finally, 'Here’s To Never Growing Up' closes the show. The band fades out and a camera turns on the audience who warble every word and enjoy a moment of emotional, nostalgic empowerment.
Avril Lavigne defined a whole generation of alt, Tumblr girlies in the 2000s. She’s more than a pop princess, she’s our queen.
Setlist:
Bite Me
What the hell
Complicated
My Happy Ending
I’m a Mess
Wannabe (Spice Girls cover)
Hello Kitty
Love Sux
Girlfriend
Love It When You Hate Me
Sk8er Boi
Head Above Water
I’m with you
