04Nine Ways of Looking At The Black Star Concert
1. As Black Versus Yellow
The black motif among the crowd outshines the dark of the night; this is not a funeral. Clad in tees deeply stained and eyes lined with charcoal, the aficionados crashes through the entrance doors with glow sticks and home-crafted banners and overflowing handfuls of exhilaration. Glow sticks and stage lights of different colors lights up the stadium, but they are not what the blackness really had to compete with. Amidst the throng of people stands a dozen of tall, robust, mostly bald security personnel, all cloaked in yellow. Viewing the stadium from the top bleachers, you’ll find the security guards, the unsmiling surveillance for unruly behavior, all lined up along the stage and scattered throughout the stadium, illumine as if they were stars in the night sky. The real star of the night, however, is in black, the color that signified Avril Lavigne’s persona. Black guitars, black grand piano, black leather boots, and black drums – it all makes sense only in a talk about colors; the bass guitar player, too, is black.
2. As A Tour
A proudly Canadian-born singer-songwriter, Avril Lavigne had journeyed through Asia, Europe, US, South America, Africa, and Oceania for the past ten years of her career; but never in this course of her recording profession had she toured her home country. Not until this year that she began her Black Star Tour, conquering territories of North America. Canadians love her, and, of course, the feeling is mutual. The Tim Hortons and Swiss Chalet, she told audiences, had been missed, and Canada will forever be her home.
3. As Quintessence of the Popular Culture
She starts singing the first line of the song, “You say that I’m messing with your head.” Ordinary words and hackneyed phrases, most of the time unheeded, goes line after line; the plainness and levity, would not make sense to the little kids and/or the grown-ups but would mean well to the teenagers. The melody, the hypnotic rhythms that the mind plays with for a while, like a syndrome, taints the memory. The popular culture is mostly cliché. Avril Lavigne has become a cliché in the popular culture although at the beginning of her career, she wasn’t, or that’s how she sees herself. She started writing songs as a seventeen-year-old and she would make music for the troubled teenager that she was. The cliché during her time were sexy female artists who were recognized not exactly for musical artistry but on their marketable display of sexiness. She was the rebellious teen rock star back then; but Avril, in her recent albums, although only slightly, began embracing the trend of female artist stereotypes, unfortunately.
4. As a Preponderance of the Young Demographic
The charming kids came holding hands with their parents or big sisters or grandpa or grandma. They waved and clapped their hands, jumped and danced and sang. Their excitement fashioned a profound sense of brilliant innocence. Cute little kids with shirts that say ROCK, some even wearing a thin bundle or two of strands of blue or green or pink hair – they all wanna be rock stars. The person they adore appears on stage not just in two-dimension television but live in real life, singing to them their favorite songs; and myself, who was a die-hard fan of Avril’s when I was their age (a decade ago), felt so happy for them.
By the time the pop star finally came out the back stage, the kids could have been in bed after mum’s enchanting story telling; they were still kicking, but only after a few tracks they became itched by drowsiness. Helpless, they fell asleep in the middle of the concert, despite the upbeat music and cheers and noise; under the spell of a rowdy lullaby, the kids meandered through the concert of their subconscious.
5. As a Time for Burgers and Fries and Colas and Popcorn
We’re here to make business. Brandt Centre is not an everyday destination. Tonight is an opportunity for line-ups. That does not at all intimidate us. Besides, it’s our vision, to earn the bucks and feed you. Who’s in town tonight? We wonder.
6. As A State of Euphoria and Escape
The drums, keyboards, guitars, and voices, meant to make sounds and music are all amplified forty times the normal, almost to torment the eardrums. It is a moment of escape from the noise of our reality. The guy sitting behind me enjoyably and spontaneously sparks off whistles that echo throughout the stadium, perhaps, only as it sounds to me. Reverberating throughout the arena, the ecstatic vocal chorus is contagious – it begins with one clap, a cheer, and dominoes on and on.
Avril has always made the audiences insane. From her accumulated experiences, performing has become natural. Indeed, it was a battle between the pop star’s plus the audiences’ vocal chords, versus the amplified guitar chords, the vocal chords unanimously winning the battle.
7. As a Display of a Canadian Symbol
Oversized but almost unnoticed, the Canadian flag dangling from the ceiling is never absent in any event. How many people have actually looked at it during the concert? I think, only I did.
8. As a Gag Show
The two keyboardists from the pre-show band made me go gaga. They rocked ‘n rolled really hard, with so much feelings! They wrecked the keyboard stands along with their constant and liberal head banging. Scrutinizing how their hands moved along the white and black keys, I could tell they were not making music at all; they were merely inapt accessories; all the more, they made me laugh out loud without being heard by anyone.
9. As A Floor Plan
The teens in the VIP row right in front the stage, clutching a bag of freebies, see the rock star up-close, get to touch her hands, and are expected to exude all-out gusto. My sisters and I, and a family friend gets the view from the upper bowl of the stadium facing directly the VIP row. We watch the kids down in that zone, short, struggling to catch a good view, and so they had to hop — a barricade of grown-ups rivaling their supposed-to-be-unrivaled position in the arena. We sat on our assigned seats up in the slopes of the top stands, undisturbed, unless somebody on the same row had to get out from her seat –- there was no room for passing through, plus the lights were off: colas on the floor were kicked, feet were stepped on, a few passers-by tripped.
The general admission floor, on the contrary, lies flat on the ground as it should. Apparently, every member of the audience designated on that area has equal rights on that public sphere — no slopes, no hierarchy, except that they were excluded from the VIPs. One had to keep moving into an open space, squeezing into factions of people, wanting to get a closer glimpse of the celebrity. It doesn’t matter where you sit or stand; all it takes is an admission ticket, a 20-20 vision and functioning ears and Street smarts are optional.
This was one of the low-marked essays from last sem. I just wanted to share the experience, so I posted it. I felt no excitement at all when my sister invited me to come. But when I was there, I had so much fun. It was so nostalgic to hear “I’m With You” play again, and plus the fact that A.Lavigne was singing it to the crowd live and 20 something meters away from where I was seated. I was so pleased to be taken back to childhood by this concert. My sister and I had a voice recording of “Complicated” before, but had become inexistent in present days. I can still remember the moment we were singing that, with our tiny voices that probably sounded like the Chipettes. I loved Avril Lavigne. I even regretted to not have brought my camera and zoom lens.
I looked super uninterested, which I was really. I brought my pen and paper for the essay assignment but ended up writing crap. I remember writing 6 key words in my note. I think.
