The Labor Day weekend has come and gone, which moves us squarely into the direction of the onrushing conclusion of 2024. I’m struggling to come to terms with it being September “already.” As always, time flies and doesn’t give one single fuck whether you’re having fun or not.

I extended this long weekend a bit so I could schlep over to New Jersey last Thursday to see Avril Lavigne, a long-time pop punk emo girl favorite, joined with opener Simple Plan, in a show that would have killed me dead 20 years ago. Honestly, it was everything I’d hoped for. It’s not often I have no regrets about having to wade into a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands, but this was one of those rare exceptions. 

I had some hesitation after reading some negative reviews of the performance online but found all the issues raised to be completely overblown or nonexistent. I spent the entire night with a smile on my face – no easy feat when I’ve been kept up well past my bedtime. It felt very much like a trip back to the early 2000s… and I guess that was really the goal. It was nice to spend a couple of hours in my 20s again.

Freedom Mortgage Pavilion was a surprisingly nice venue. No issues with the food and beverage options. Clean facilities overall. Everything was well organized. The only flaw in the evening was the physical location of the venue. It’s how I imagine the Green Zone in Baghdad must have been – a safe haven surrounded by high walls, fences, and armed patrols. Once I was inside the bubble, all was well… getting to the bubble, letting Waze direct me through the side streets of Camden, NJ felt like a very questionable decision. Obviously, nothing unfortunate happened, but it wasn’t a good look and marred the experience being the first and last impression of the evening.

In any case, if anyone is on the fence about going to see the show, I can’t recommend it highly enough. All in, it was a hell of a good time, and I’d go again tomorrow if they came back to play an encore.