Avril’s back – back again

Avril Lavigne

With Gob

April 16, 7:30 p.m.

Petersen Events Center

(412) 323-1900

The… Avril Lavigne

With Gob

April 16, 7:30 p.m.

Petersen Events Center

(412) 323-1900

The name of teen pop-“punk” sensation Avril Lavigne’s first headline tour is the “Try to Shut Me Up Tour.”

[You may insert the joke of your choosing here.]

Lavigne and her surprisingly tight band of guitar-wielding, rock band pin-wearing, frost-‘n’-tipped hired guns – I mean, road bandmates and bestest dudes ever – will be crashing the Petersen Events Center tonight with neo-punksters Gob.

Last Halloween, Lavigne stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square and did a costumed set. Lavigne, in an attempt at “hilarious ‘irony'” that took a wrong turn at “Courtney Love ’96,” wore a pink satin prom gown, a blue wig and Mylar false eyelashes and a tiara. She made her band dress in drag, too.

Nevertheless, Lavigne’s usual garb of cutoff parachute pants, white Fruit of the Loom tanks and – ooh la la! – teeny tiny black bras can’t hide the inherent girliness of her songs. Take, for example, her ode to the crusty teeter, “Sk8er Boi.”

First, who but a teen-age girl would use, without irony, the AOL Instant Messenger-ish letter-plus-number word construction? Second, for all intents and purposes, the song is about being the uber-groupie: In the third verse, she squeals, “Now I’m with a skater boy/ I said, ‘see ya later boy/’I’ll be backstage after the show.'” Third, she is Canadian, which, though it worked for Neil Young and the Barenaked Ladies, is never good for one’s “street cred.”

Lavigne is a lightning rod for discussion. Debates rage on countless internet message boards over the veracity of whether Lavigne “keeps it real” or is a production of a record producer and crack songwriting team eager to fill a void created by the slick, sexy Christinas and Britneys.

In any case, the kids just love her. Her debut album, Let Go, went quadruple platinum. The Pete holds about 12,500 people, and it’s entirely possible that Lavigne sold the venue out.

[Insert your own “sellout” joke here.]