Avril Lavigne breaks out all the hits in Bedford
The Canadian star played all the right songs.
Photo: Cuffe & Taylor
Defining the noughties with her tongue-in-cheek, take no prisoners lyrics on past relationships, Avril is an icon in her own right. Breaking out in 2002 and making my entire childhood full of cargo trousers and wristbands adorned with checks and skulls, Avril moulded an entire generation thanks to her relatable personality and catchy lyrics.
I was just three years old when I first heard her music and remember standing in front of the TV to watch her run through a shopping centre, walk home in the rain and stand on cars. My mum called me “Avril”, thanks to my long blonde hair and, from that moment on, I became one of the many impressionable young kids who would grow up with every single Avril Lavigne album played loud.
Before MTV’s TV channel exposed me to her music videos, my dad had Let Go and Under My Skin on CD and then in 2007 I begged my parents for The Best Damn Thing CD, which they debated buying me for my birthday thanks to Avril’s nonstop use of swear words. Luckily, they got me it anyway and, with a hand-me-down CD player from my brother, it’s a CD I must’ve pushed to it’s very limit.
When I saw Avril was playing a half hour drive from me, I knew I had to go. I couldn’t miss this — and, deep down, I knew the FOMO would be unforgiving. I had to do this, if not for three year old me obsessed with her; eight year old me feeling rebellious every time she swore in a song, or thirteen year old me finding myself in HMV again, buying her latest album on release day.
I felt nervous somehow, like visiting an old friend you thought you’d never see again. Admittedly, I’d not listened to her latest album and cherished her first five instead, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t one of my favourite artists of all time; at one point, I wished my name was Avril.
The band bound on stage, guitars wielded in hand as if they were about to face battle, ready to warm-up the crowd. After a good minute or so of the band playing, Avril ran atop hot pink TVs already belting out her nightclub classic Girlfriend, a song that is as feminist as it is child-friendly, and I felt a singular tear stream down my face. I was finally seeing someone I had looked up to for years in person. That will do it.
Photo: Cuffe & Taylor
Wasting no time, the Canadian sprung straight into What the Hell, another track that is no stranger to being spun in a club and led right to fan favourite Complicated, her first single and undoubtedly one of her best.
Something about Avril’s stage presence truly felt like she hadn’t ever stopped performing live for the whole 22 years of her career, as if she’d never had Lyme Disease or Covid hadn’t put a halt to live music. Before the show, I’d seen complaints about her performing live, saying she “gave nothing” and her performance was “lacklustre”. With this in mind, I can honestly say her show was an engaging, exciting and memorable one.
The star played exceptionally through hits Smile and Here’s To Never Growing Up, with the latter she had asked the crowd “who here is over thirty? Well, tonight you’re 17 again.” With my twenty-fifth birthday lingering, I kept my hand down but noticed the large number of the audience unsurprisingly with their hands up. Of course, Avril’s music spans generations, with a vast amount of different age groups in attendance, including lots of younger children whose parents were clearly long-standing Avril fans putting their kids onto some of the best music to grow up to.
Before the show had started, I had thought about when I used to spin her 2007 album The Best Damn Thing and my older sister would ask me to rewind to her favourite track, Hot. Having glanced at the setlist from two days prior, it seemed Avril was playing the very same songs, except when she suddenly broke away into that very track — Hot — and left me in awe. Despite her only playing the chorus and one verse, it still felt special to experience that song by the side of my sister.
Photo: Cuffe & Taylor
Running off the stage, the big screen played host to Avril’s Let Go era, including interviews and award ceremonies, ushering in the next few songs to come. Avril joined us again — this time with a glittery red guitar — and went straight into a personal favourite of mine and my mum, My Happy Ending.
She strummed her way through a back catalog of classics such as He Wasn’t, Don’t Tell Me and Losing Grip, before asking the crowd if they had a band they were obsessed with when they were younger. Wasting no time, she came forward to peer at the crowd, picking out people she wanted to come up on stage with the help of her friend Sam.
She let the lucky people say their names before commanding them to jump as she began her rendition of All The Small Things by blink-182, a band she said she could call her friends now. All the people pulled from the crowd seemed to be having a great time, phones in hands recording, yet one person was overzealous, grabbing at Avril as she tried to sing and, at one point, quite literally groped the poor singer from behind. Fortunately, once someone on stage had a quiet word with her, she pulled back and joined the rest of the group instead of vying for Avril’s preoccupied attention.
After that uncomfortable watch, she called upon her new era of music to get the crowd going again, running through new tracks Love It When You Hate Me and Bite Me before asking the crowd a question they had been waiting all night to hear: “Where are all my skater boys and girls?”. This meant, of course, she would play the ultimate crowd-pleaser — the one you must have been living under a rock to never have heard — Sk8er Boi. A song that catapulted her to fame and forever tied her to the skating community.
She swiftly exited the stage, having sang her heart out and performed every word (rather than opting for a backing track) and truly surprised us all. No matter the fame the Canadian has, it seems she’ll always stick to performing authentically and 100% live, rather than taking the route of many modern pop stars and performing with the help of pre-recorded vocals.
As the lights dimmed and many people started leaving, many of us were wise to the fact she hadn’t played another huge hit, I’m with You, so stood patiently in our spots. I tried my best to start an encore chant but, when you’re recovering from a throat-destroying chest infection, it’s not the best idea and you sound a bit stupid shouting “encore” all by yourself.
After a few minutes, the soft piano and gentle notes of comeback single Head Above Water started; a track that reflects upon her battle with lyme disease and was her first track back in 2018 after a few years away from the spotlight. She graced the stage once again, this time in an ethereal all white number with a hood, looking as if she had just walked right out of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head music video.
As soon as I heard the opening line of “I always needed time on my own…” I was left in surprise that she was playing another favourite of mine, When You’re Gone, especially as I hadn’t any clue she would play such a varied amount of her music and expected a lot more of the new music.
Ending the night on the perfect note, Avril put on a spine-tingling performance of I’m with You, everyone’s favourite emotional track and one that leaves you not wanting the night to end. A real togetherness swept across the crowd, with lovers, family and friends all swaying together as she said goodbye to Bedford and closed the curtain on the night.
Avril told the crowd she loves the UK and, after her Glastonbury performance the next day, it’s safe to say we love her.
