As the Sabres went down in flames at the end of the 3rd period, I started flipping through the channels and noticed there was an Avril concert playing on Palladia. My interest piqued for the train wreck, I decided to watch it.
I must say, I'm a bit confused. I had viewed one or two live songs on YouTube, where she seemed to be a bit wasted. Let's just say they were about what I'd expect. A cute chick, who was only passable when in the studio.
Either she's gotten a lot better, or the few train wreck songs I heard were an anomaly. First off, her singing. It isn't just that it was passable, at times it was good ... really good. Initially I thought maybe she was lip-syncing. As I continued to watch it dawned on me - no, she's actually singing, and not being familiar with many of her songs (other than the ones killed on radio), I started to realize, her voice ain't half-bad. She actually has some control, and some pipes. One thing I had noticed previously, when singing higher registers ... she sounds a bit like Alanis. Must be a Canadian thing, or something to do with having first names that start with an 'A'. Whatever it is, the comparison was cemented watching this show. They share a very similar tone for their higher octave vocalizations, as well as doing a similar 'crack' at the end of certain notes.
Whatever, the point is that I came away pretty impressed by her voice. What really surprised me however was that she can actually play instruments while singing. At first she did a song or two with some guitar. No biggie, just some rhythm stuff ... though I was a bit surprised when I realized I could actually hear her guitar - it wasn't just for show.
She then ended up playing a song on piano as well. While I was aware she wrote most of her music, I was a bit surprised to see her singing and playing something that was obviously out in the front of the song. There wouldn't be any hiding if she fucked it up.
Then I became EXTREMELY confused. She asked the crowd if they wanted to hear her play some drums. I was like wtf?, but figured she'd just do some really terrible attempt at a solo and call it a day. No, she instead actually played the drums while singing the song ... and then did the same thing for the next one.
What the hell is going on? I feel like my world has been turned upside down. She actually seems to be a competent musician, sings pretty fucking well live, and writes most of her own stuff (even if most of it is just radio-friendly pop).
As stated, I came away confused ... and surprisingly impressed.
I must say, I'm a bit confused. I had viewed one or two live songs on YouTube, where she seemed to be a bit wasted. Let's just say they were about what I'd expect. A cute chick, who was only passable when in the studio.
Either she's gotten a lot better, or the few train wreck songs I heard were an anomaly. First off, her singing. It isn't just that it was passable, at times it was good ... really good. Initially I thought maybe she was lip-syncing. As I continued to watch it dawned on me - no, she's actually singing, and not being familiar with many of her songs (other than the ones killed on radio), I started to realize, her voice ain't half-bad. She actually has some control, and some pipes. One thing I had noticed previously, when singing higher registers ... she sounds a bit like Alanis. Must be a Canadian thing, or something to do with having first names that start with an 'A'. Whatever it is, the comparison was cemented watching this show. They share a very similar tone for their higher octave vocalizations, as well as doing a similar 'crack' at the end of certain notes.
Whatever, the point is that I came away pretty impressed by her voice. What really surprised me however was that she can actually play instruments while singing. At first she did a song or two with some guitar. No biggie, just some rhythm stuff ... though I was a bit surprised when I realized I could actually hear her guitar - it wasn't just for show.
She then ended up playing a song on piano as well. While I was aware she wrote most of her music, I was a bit surprised to see her singing and playing something that was obviously out in the front of the song. There wouldn't be any hiding if she fucked it up.
Then I became EXTREMELY confused. She asked the crowd if they wanted to hear her play some drums. I was like wtf?, but figured she'd just do some really terrible attempt at a solo and call it a day. No, she instead actually played the drums while singing the song ... and then did the same thing for the next one.
What the hell is going on? I feel like my world has been turned upside down. She actually seems to be a competent musician, sings pretty fucking well live, and writes most of her own stuff (even if most of it is just radio-friendly pop).
As stated, I came away confused ... and surprisingly impressed.
