Last Monday, the Canadian artist casually descended on Hong Kong to meet fans and surprise them with details of her soon-to-be-released self-titled album. The Avril Lavigne Hong Kong Fan Meet 2013 took place at Kitec.
The singer took the stage by storm and belted out one of her latest singles, Here's to Never Growing Up, quickly followed by brand-new track 17. To remind loyal fans of her journey to fame, as well as introducing younger ones to some of her old stuff, Lavigne picked I'm With You, from her very first album Let Go, as the last track of three.
If one thing was proven, it was that Lavigne - who dropped her last album two years ago and has now reached the grand old age of 28 - has not lost any of her charm. The excited crowd sang, or rather screamed, along to her tracks even before she appeared.
It was an interactive night as fans huddled around to speak to their idol, ask questions and win an autographed guitar. Credit should go to Teen Time host Alyson Hau, who did a good job ramping up the crowd's mood and moderating the gig. The size of the venue, Rotunda 1, was also just about right; if it were much bigger, it would have lost the intimacy.
The only letdown was that the pop princess could have treated her fans to a few more tracks. I was far from the only person voicing this at the gig. Maybe next time, Avril?
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