can i make it any more obvious?

I went to an Avril Lavigne concert, and I brought a pain relief roll-on with me. Yes, the minty kind. Yes, just in case.

I also made a mental note not to scream too loud because I didn’t want to lose my voice. I had to work the next day, so I was hyper-aware of the time. I couldn’t lose my voice and I couldn’t stay up too long. Concerts in the middle of the week are rough, especially when you’re a grown-up.

And then I forgot a crucial thing that would have been a huge help: earplugs. When you’re younger, you don’t think about stuff like that. You just survive the noise. At my age though, earplugs are a must. My left ear had been getting these dull throbs of pain lately, and going to a pop punk concert without earplugs probably didn’t do it any favors.

Despite the tiny aches and adult responsibilities, watching the concert was well worth it. It’s Avril Lavigne, man. This was the woman who sang the soundtrack of my pre-teen years, back when I lived in a tiny coastal village that no celebrity ever visited because almost no one could ever afford a concert ticket.

But here I was, standing in the crowd, surrounded by fans who were likely thinking the same thing: hell freakin’ yeah. When the band started playing the first few chords of Complicated, it was like being transported back to my childhood living room, sitting cross-legged in front of a 14-inch TV, watching every song that made it to MYX Daily Top 10. Chill out, what ya yellin’ for? Aaaaaa.

At one point, the opening acts Girlfriend and Fefe Dobson joined Avril to sing a cover of Blink 182’s All The Small Things. It was the dopest for me, especially when they got to the “work sucks” part and the music cut out, giving space for the audience to shout in perfect unison: “I KNOW!” Aaaaaa.

The song that caught me off guard though was Smile. I never paid much attention to it when it was released way-back-when, but I couldn’t stop playing it after the concert. Something about it just clicked. It was so catchy that I ended up singing along to the chorus even though I didn’t know the words when the song started. What a bop. Everything was a bop, actually. Happy Ending, Hot, Losing Grip — it was bop after bop after bop.

Did I leave the concert with sore feet and ringing ears? Nope, not really. Was I exhausted the next day at work? Nah. I guess I still have the stamina for mid-week concerts. Standing there and singing along to the songs I grew up with gave me the perfect dose of nostalgia and joy. I’d try to remember the earplugs for next time though. My aging ears would definitely appreciate them.