Avril Lavigne Returns to Western New York

The Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan & Girlfriends tour may be flying under the radar for some, but the near-capacity crowd at Darien Lake this past Tuesday night would say otherwise.

This is the first time in 10 years since Lavigne has played the WNY area. She opened up for the Backstreet Boys at Darien Lake back in 2014. This is the 2nd time in 2 years Simple Plan has played Darien. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Girlfriends make their WNY debut as we got stuck in traffic getting into the venue.

One of the best shows we saw last year was Simple Plan. The band came out and played another rousing opening slot. Simple Plan played 12 songs led by the energetic frontman Pierre Bouvier. He was moving and jumping around the stage the entire show. Even though they were slotted as an opener, it didn’t look and feel like it. They were able to use their props throughout the show. That included smoke, balloons, and having a few people join them on stage dressed in Scooby-Doo costumes during the song “What’s new, Scooby-Doo?”

Again, the band kept a high octane set through until their last song, “Perfect,” where Bouvier did the first half of the song acoustically. As stated, even though Simple Plan has played Darien two years in a row, the fans are still there for every note and chord strung. Another great performance by the band.

Headlining the show is Canada’s darling Avril Lavigne. Lavigne is currently on her 8th tour, which is dubbed ‘The Greatest Hits Tour.’ Various images of Lavigne through the years appeared on the video screen with her band playing the intro to “Girlfriend.” Lavigne then walked up the stairs to appear at the top of the back of the stage, signing the song. Lavigne was wearing a black and pink outfit that matched the décor of the stage. Lavigne let out a scream, “What’s Up Buffalo?” and talked about how she is enjoying a tour that is celebrating her 22 years in the music business. She then went into the song that put her name on the map in “Complicated.” The actual video from the song played behind her as she sang it.

Lavigne asked for the crowd to wrap your arm around the person you came with, as the song “Smile” was dedicated to them. A montage of video clips of Lavigne accepting various awards throughout her entire career played before the song “My Happy Ending.” She also donned and played the guitar for the first time as well during the song. She played the opening chords to the next song, “He Wasn’t.” She invited Simple Plan to join her on stage for their song “Addicted.” They invited some fans on stage to join them as Bouvier tossed some t-shirts out to the crowd and shot confetti guns. Lavigne gave the girls some signed skateboards too. Confetti rained as one of Lavigne’s more popular songs in “Sk8er Boi” was played. For the encore, Lavigne returned in a white dress as they slowed things down for “Head Above Water.” Lavigne ended her set with “I’m With You,” as more confetti rained down before she exited the stage.

Lavigne helped pave the way for the success of female-driven punk-influenced pop artists that you see all over the music scene today. Even though she has been doing it for a while now, Lavigne still shows that she can deliver a big stage show and entertain the masses. The tour is continuing for a few more months. Do yourself a favor; don’t wait to get your tickets, as this is one of the hottest tours of the summer.

Setlist: