Avril Lavigne’s “The Best Damn Thing” Tour Q&A

by Susie Salva

Multi-platinum Canadian pop punk dynamo Avril Lavigne has recently released her third album, “The Best Damn Thing” on RCA records. Lavigne is touring in support of this new effort and has taken the time out of her busy schedule to participate in a Q&A conference call. The following is what ensued:

Q: Talk a little about the production and the look of the show.  I know you were talking about working with dancers and there have been some different stories and issues with that, so what kind of form is the show going to take, and also what will you be playing?

Avril Lavigne: The show is going to be very upbeat and the production will be bigger in the sense of what you just said, … dancers on a couple of songs, and LED screens, and I’m going to have checkered flooring.  I have a pink sparkle drum kit, a pink piano being made, flags.  Over time I just learned how I need to be on stage.  I’m more confident.  It’s just more dynamic, brighter, and more colorful.  I’m excited about it because I’ve been working on the show for a very long time now and this is going to be really fun to go and play.

Q: Were there any second thoughts, because you did wait awhile after the album came out to go on tour, do you think it worked?  Are you still happy you did it that way rather than going out right after the release?

Avril: I think it could have gone either way.  I think it probably didn’t really matter that much.  You always have to do promo.  I did promo all of 2007, I had to go to so many different places, including Asia, Europe, and South America.  I had a lot of places to go, a lot of TV shows to do, and a lot of photo shoots and all that stuff.  It has to be done if you want to work a record really hard, and I chose to work this one hard.

Q: You said that you’re feeling more confident right now, what do you think brought about that confidence?

Avril: Well, a lot of people don’t know this about me but I’m actually shy around people I don’t know. I would just say with my first concert, my first tour, I didn’t really talk on stage, I was like, “Thank you, I love you guys,” or whatever.  But now I’ve just kind of learned to work a crowd.  I’ve played so many shows now, it’s been five years, and I’ve just kind of learned how to talk to an audience. And you know the longer you do anything, the more you learn it and feel comfortable, and I was always comfortable singing, but being a performer is a totally different thing. You want to keep the crowd watching you and interested and excited, so that’s why now I feel like “Alright, I get to do this.”  Finally, I have enough songs that are singles that people know so I can put them in certain points that I want in the show.  I can bring it up with songs like “Girlfriend” and “Sk8er Boi,” open and close with those big songs and bring out dancers, but I can also come down and play on the  piano with “When You’re Gone,”  “Alone,” and “By Myself.”

Q: I’m curious to know a little bit more about the production numbers. I don’t know if you’re doing the dancing at all in it too, or just how much you had to learn and what you plan to go through in order to bring that element into the show?

Avril: There’s dancing on maybe like four songs, and it’s not really much dancing.  It’s very me, it’s very kicking and punching and stomping and marching, stuff that I was always doing on stage, songs like “Girlfriend” and then the next song after it, “I Can Do Better,” like boom, boom, the first two songs and then they’re gone. And then it’s me playing my guitar, me on the piano, me with my band the entire show, and then at the end they come in again, so it’s not a lot.  And I’ve been doing it at festivals and stuff like that, so I’ve actually been doing it for a year now, so it doesn’t feel new anymore.  But I guess it will be for a lot of people to see.  It’s not over the top too much.  The show is very me, it rocks.  It’s very much me, but just the next level.  And it’s exciting because the reason why I wanted to bring in more people and I got a new band and added more players to it is because I wanted more energy on stage.  I always wanted it to be bigger and just more fun, like a party, have more people on stage to have fun with and stuff.

 

Q: I understand you’ve been writing some new material, how did that experience sort of influence where you might want to go the next time around with a record?

Avril: Because I write my songs, it is kind of a reflection of me at that time in my life.  So I’ve been writing recently the songs that I feel like writing, but when I get off tour and I really work on my next record, I may be in a completely different space.  So I really can’t even say or I don’t even know what my next record is really going to be like.  The Best Damn Thing, my current record, I got off tour, I went into the studio-well, I took a little break and went, I was writing too-I started writing right away, and all I wanted to do was just write really fun songs that weren’t serious, and like break-up boyfriend songs.  Because my previous record Under My Skin was really dark and deep, and so I got that out and I spent a whole year and a half singing those songs, so now I wanted to go and write really fun songs, upbeat, so I could just, when I do my long … tour, I can have fun and just jump around on stage and not be so dark.  So it always changes, yes.

Q: How do you approach another record in terms of creative control and doing what you want to do and not having A&R people bugging you any more.

Avril: I don’t have an A&R guy.  I A&R my own records, and I’m glad because I basically went in the studio and I told my manager and my record company nobody could hear anything until I’m done.  So I was literally in the studio racking up studio bills for six months and no one heard anything, which I’m sure that made them very nervous.  And finally I was like I just don’t want to play anything for anyone because I don’t want to hear anyone’s opinion or thoughts.  I don’t want it to mess up what I’m thinking, and I wanted to be clear on what songs I thought were best and what I thought needed to make the record and what I thought were the singles.  And I did that and then I sat my manager and my record company down and played it, and that’s what I’ll probably do again.  But maybe not, maybe I’ll be whatever and excited and want to play songs for people right away.

Q: Talk about the challenges of trying to maintain your popularity at a time when people don’t seem to buy records at the rate that they used to.

Avril: It’s kind of one of those things I don’t think about.  I’m not really in control of that. The music industry has kind of taken a hit right now, but I just focus on singing and writing, and I’m just going to keep doing it as long as I can and have fun with it. And I get to tour, and that really hasn’t been affected, so I know that I can always do that.  I’m fortunate to have a fan base worldwide, and so I think I can do that for awhile.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your sense of Canadian and American audiences when you tour, are they very different?

Avril: Yes, actually.  When I go to Canada I feel like everyone, my fans are like “Woo- hoo, she’s Canadian,” and I feel like I’ve come home.  I feel like I have so much support and love, like I’m Canada’s girl from them, so I feel that extra love when I go home, so, yes.

Q: Is there any song in particular you would like to re-make maybe?

Avril: Well, at the moment I am covering and recording “Bad Reputation” and I think that’s a cool song and that’s a different song … that I’m going to be playing.  It’s going to be part of my live show.

 

Q: You recently trademarked your name, does that translate into new sort of fun merchandise for the tour?

Avril: Well, I’m going to be doing a fragrance and I’m also going to be doing a clothing line.  This is something I wanted to do.  It’s a clothing line I wanted to do for about three years.  A lot of times what people do is they do a licensing deal and I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to own a company and really be able to be a designer and be creative.  And I’ve finally found someone to partner up with, and I’m very excited about it because I love clothes.  I love anything visual.  I’m excited to be able to focus on something else creatively.  I love music.  By the time I get off tour I think it will be me doing music straight for seven years, so I look forward to something new to put my energy into, and to take a little break, even though I’ll still be writing.  I’ll never stop.  And so yes, that’s what that is.

Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Boys Like Girls, Lavigne has announced 41 North American dates (see routing below) 

Avril Lavigne’s “The Best Damn Tour” North American Dates
Wed 03/05/08       Victoria, BC                    Save On Foods Memorial Centre

Fri 03/07/08          Vancouver , BC              General Motors Place  

Sat 03/08/08         Kamloops , BC               Interior Savings Centre  

Sun 03/09/08        Kelowna , BC                 Prospera Place   

Tue 03/11/08        Prince George,BC          CN Centre  

Wed 03/12/08       Edmonton , AB              Rexall Place   

Thu 03/13/08        Calgary , AB                  Pengrowth Saddledome  

Sat 03/15/08        Regina , SK                   Brandt Centre  

Sun 03/16/08       Saskatoon , SK             Credit Union Centre  

Tue 03/18/08       Winnipeg , MB               MTS Centre  

Thu 03/20/08       Minneapolis , MN           Target Center   

Fri 03/21/08         Rosemont , IL               Allstate Arena  

Sat 03/22/08       Auburn Hills, MI             The Palace Of Auburn Hills  

Tue 03/25/08       Pittsburgh , PA              A.J. Palumbo Center   

Wed 03/26/08      Cleveland , OH              Wolstein Ctr./Cleveland St. Univ.

Fri 03/28/08        Atlantic City, NJ             Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa / Event Ctr.

Sat 03/29/08       Buffalo , NY                  HSBC Arena  

Sun 03/30/08      E. Rutherford, NJ           Izod Center   

Tue 04/01/08      Boston , MA                  Agganis Arena at Boston University   

Wed 04/02/08     Montreal , QC                Bell Centre  

Thu 04/03/08      Ottawa , ON                  Scotiabank Place  

Mon 04/07/08     Toronto , ON                  Air Canada Centre  

Tue 04/08/08      Kingston , ON                Kingston Reg’l Sports & Ent. Ctr.  

Wed 04/09/08     London , ON                  The John Labatt Centre  

Fri 04/11/08        Uniondale , NY              Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum  

Sat 04/12/08       Uncasville , CT             Mohegan Sun  

Sun 04/13/08      Manchester , NH           Verizon Wireless Arena  

Tue 04/15/08       Fairfax , VA                  Patriot Center   

Fri 04/18/08        Atlanta , GA                  Philips Arena  

Sun 04/20/08      W. Palm Beach, FL        Sound Advice Amphitheatre  

Tue 04/22/08       Biloxi , MS                    Hard Rock Hotel / Casino  

Thu 04/24/08       Hidalgo , TX                  Dodge Arena  

Sat 04/26/08       Dallas , TX                    Smirnoff Music Centre  

Sun 04/27/08       Selma , TX                   Verizon Wireless Amphitheater  

Tue 04/29/08       Las Vegas , NV            The Pearl Concert Theater At Palms  

Wed 04/30/08     San Diego , CA              Cox Arena  

Fri 05/02/08        Phoenix , AZ                 Cricket Pavilion  

Sat 05/03/08       Anaheim , CA                Honda Center  

Sun 05/04/08       Universal City, CA         Gibson Amph. At Univ. CityWalk  

Tue 05/06/08       Santa Barbara, CA         Santa Barbara Bowl  

Fri 05/09/08         Spokane , WA               Spokane Arena