Pop punk princess Avril Lavigne is celebrating over 20 years of music on her Greatest Hits Tour and the whole production rolled through Phoenix on Sunday night. Hundreds of attendees braved the Arizona heat at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre for a nostalgia-fueled evening that encompassed several generations of fans.
Lavigne pulled out all the stops for this tour, draping the stage in screens, lights and a full band to give the crowd the best experience possible. It says a lot about her career that she was able to start the show with “Girlfriend”, “What the Hell” and “Complicated” (her first big hit) and the audience was showered in confetti within the first song.
From there, Lavigne welcomed the screaming crowd with open arms and expressed her immense gratitude for the last 22 years. Her style has remained the same with bright, bold colors and plenty of punk-inspired pieces that the fans emulated in the audience as well- any chance to break out the ties, safety pins and skate shoes.
The audience was also treated to plenty of throwback footage on the screens at the back of the stage. The video interlude midway through the set took longtime fans all the way back to 2002 when Lavigne’s first album came out and her career exploded- and plenty of us in the crowd were instantly transported to much younger days. She also pulled “Losing Grip” out of the debut album vault and had everyone singing along.
Two fans were invited onstage to dance with Lavigne to “Fake as Hell” and even treated to signed skateboards and selfies with the superstar. The end of the set had a little bit of the new era with “Love It When You Hate Me” before the main portion closed out with “Sk8er Boi” and yet another shower of confetti. Of course, Lavigne returned for a euphoric encore as fans swayed together to “I’m With You”.
Millennial nostalgia was certainly at an all time high on Sunday night and they’re bringing the next generation of fans into the fold. It’s a testament to Lavigne’s pop culture impact that the amphitheatre was packed to the edges of the lawn- clearly the demand will remain should she return to the road in the future. In the meantime, “Here’s to Never Growing Up”.
Photo credit: Santiago Hernandez
