But the fact that Britney is merely a singer and dancer, while Avril rocks out on a guitar and belts out angst-filled lyrics apparently means the world to female middle-school types.

The 20-year-old Canadian delighted that demographic Saturday at her concert at U.S. Bank Arena. The venue was less-than-half filled, but loud screams from the crowd throughout Lavigne's 75-minute set made the room seem packed.

From the time her electric-guitar-strumming silhouette appeared through a black curtain at the start of the opening tune, "He Wasn't," Lavigne earned the screams with a fast-paced show performed in a stripped-down stage setting that put emphasis on her catchy little tunes.

Backed by a four-man band, Lavigne was at her crowd-pleasing best going guitar-less, working the front of the stage from end to end with microphone in hand. She packed many songs from 2002's breakout debut Let Go and this year's Under My Skin into the quick set. Up-tempo tunes like "Sk8er Boi" were especially big with the crowd.

Lavigne slowed things down in the middle of the show to flash her versatility, taking a turn at the piano on "Unwanted" and following it up by clearing out her band for a solo, acoustic-guitar turn on "Tomorrow." She even had a go on drums during a cover of Blur's "Song 2."

As for her supposedly snotty rock attitude, Lavigne displayed a certain edge to her persona in songs like "My Happy Ending" and "Complicated."

But how edgy can she be when she instructs the crowd to hold up a cell phone during the power ballad instead of the prerequisite cigarette lighter?

Butch Walker, one of Lavigne's record producers, performed a 45-minute opening set filled with songs from his albums Left of Self Centered and the recently released Letters.

The singer-guitarist used the band American Hi-Fi for his backup, and together Walker and company shifted between a fast power-pop groove with such material as "My Way," and sweeping, lovesick mid-tempo power ballads like "Don't Move" and "Best Thing You Never Had."

It was big, nondescript American radio rock that might get airplay because it sounds like 1,000 other things, or it could be ignored for the exact same reason.

E-mail cv@fuse.net