Band : Avril Lavigne
Album title : The Best Damn Tour Live In Toronto
Label : RCA
Distributor : Sony-BMG
Release date : 09/09/2008
Release : DVD

Canadian born Pop Rock phenomenon Avril Lavigne (born 27/09/1984, so you do the math yourself, eh?!) was discovered back in 1998 when she won a competition to sing on stage alongside fellow Canadian artist Shania Twain at the Ottawa concert of her first major concert tour. After being discovered by her current manager while singing Country covers, she was spotted by local Folk singer Steve Medd, who invited her to sing on a song of his 1999 album Quinte Spirit. She then also sang to two songs on his 2000 follow-up album My Window To You.

Signed to Arista at the age of 16, she started work on her debut album Let Go, which was released in June 2002. the album took the worls by storm, reaching #2 in the American album charts, and #1 in Australia, Canada, and the UK. To date, the album has sold a staggering 17 million copies, effectively making Avril a rich young woman. Around the same time, Avril started making cameo appearances in television series...making her debut playing the song "Sk8ter Boi" in the popular series Sabrina, The Teenager Witch. More performances would follow during 2004 for the movie Going The Distance, and television series Saturday Live and Madtv...this of course to promote her second album, the May 2004 released Under My Skin.

With her name already made, this album not only debuted on the #1 spot of album charts in the US, Canada, Australia, and UK, but also in Germany, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Irelnd, Korea, and Hong Kong. Although the album did less well overall in sales figures ("only" about 9 million copies worldwide), and singles were doing less good than before, Lavigne won two Worls Music Awards that same year in the categories "World's Best Pop/Rock Artist" and "World's Best-Selling Canadian Artist". In 2005 she was given 5 Juno Award nominations and won 3, namely "Fan Choice Award", "Artist Of The Year", and "Pop Album Of The Year". She also won the "Favorite Female Singer" award at the 18th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. She went on a "Live And By Surprise" 21 city mall tour of the US and Canada to promote the album. The acoustic appearances (including only Lavigne and her then guitarist Evan Taubeneld), only announced 48 hours before the actual gig, were a huge success...and selections of the tour were released on the Avril Lavigne Live Acoustic EP, released only in UK Target stores.

Throughout 2005 and 2006, Lavigne combined live work with her acting and modelling career, making her real acting debut as a sidekick in the 2006 flick Fast Food Nation, following that up by lending her voice to the character Heather in the animation movie Over The Hedge. More acting came in the Richard Gere starred 2007 movie The Flock (playing the role of the suspect's girlfriend). Meanwhile the people supporting Lavigne on stage were bumped and replaced by a completely new band, including 6 dancers (2 male, 4 female – 2 of which also do backing vocals on stage). On a more personal note, Lavigne married to Deryck Whibley (lead singer/ guitarist of Canadian Punk band Sum 41) on July 15, 2006.

April 2007 the saw Lavigne's 3rd album The Best Damn Thing come to light (which sold about 5.5 million copies to date). In support of the album a world tour dubbed The Best Damn Tour was done, including dates in the US, Canada, UK & Ireland, Europe, and Asia, and it's the appearance at Toronto's Air Canada Centre on April 7 (which was completely sold-out, by the way) which was recorded for this nearly 75-minute video. What can the viewer expect to see? Well, for starters, a truly big stage performance, allowing the dancers to dance and prance during several of the songs. Also, there were big video screens in the back of the stage, allowing for additional video footage (you know, besides scenes from the stage). The concert opens with hit songs "Girlfriend" and "I Can Do Better", and not surprisingly the bulge of the set is taken from the last album (other songs performed that night off The Best Damn Thing are "When You're Gone", "Innocence", "Hot", "Everything Back But You", "The Best Damn Thing", and "I Don't Have To Try"...with an additional alternate version of "Girlfriend").The first 6 songs (which also include renditions of older material with "Complicated" and "I'm With You" off the debut, and "My Happy Ending" plus "I Always Get What I Want" of the sophomore album – though the latter was only on the special edition) are simply explosive, and followed by a break dance performance by the dancers...which allows Avril to go take a refreshment backstage and put on some fresh garments. When she returns it's to introduce a calmer passage in the set, starting off with her sitting behind a piano to bring "When You're Gone". Followed by the equally calm "Innocence" (piano now played by the band's musician, with Avril sitting center stage. She's joined there by her two guitarists for an acoustic rendition of "Innocence", "Hot", and an acoustic version of "Losing Grip" (original version on the debut album). Avril's second break comes with a video montage of the cover of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" on the big video screen. She returns in a fresh outfit to perform "Everything Back To You", after which she brings a performance on drums playing two songs (the first one I couldn't really recognize – not owning any of the gal's albums, see? - and the second a short cover of "Hey Mickey" – forgotten whom the original artists were). During (and also after) the ensuing "The Best Damn Thing", Avril gets to play the audience for a short while. After a rendition of "I Don't Have To Try" (preluded with another bit of audience play) and "He Wasn't" (off the sophomore album), it's time for the grand finale with a break dance version of "Girlfriend", and last song "Sk8ter Boi" (another hit song from the first album!).

Is the DVD worth buying? That's really something the individual fan would have to decide on his or her own. What with the tour supposedly happening with a fixed set there hàve however been deviations from that (for instance, Manchester, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Brussels had to do without performances of "When You're Gone" and Innocence") and for the people present at those moments the DVD at least has a bonus on top of the nice memories. Conclusion? DVD, so no rating...I enjoyed this thoroughly, though!

Last-minute news for the fans: British publication The London Paper recently reported that Avril had taken on a lead role in an upcoming movie, citing the singer/ actress with the words, "I've got a film role coming up. Something you wouldn't expect from me, something feep and dark." Check out your movie theatres somewhere next year! In the additional "Old News" range, did you know that Avril has also designed a clothing line named Abbey Dawn (Avril's childhood nickname), which was launched in the US during July 2008? it also includes apparel and jewelry with skull and zebra patterns similar to the artwork on her last album, and she wore some of the clothes at various concerts of the tour (now you know why she had to go change every once in a while). The line is also featured in the Internet game Stardoll, where figures can be "dressed up" as Avril Lavigne. (above info taken mainly from Wikipedia)

Tony.