Nevermind the Grammy wins, the Juno nods or the fact that she's sold more albums than most of her contemporaries: At the end of the day, it's not easy being Avril.

For the last several years, she's been the music industry's favorite whipping boy, the target of of everyone from punk rock elitists to grocery store tabloids and, of course, Perez Hilton, who openly delights in pouring salt into her faux pas wounds. Adding insult to injury, her 40-city "The Best Damn Thing" tour of North America has been met with less-than-stellar reviews and poor ticket sales - in both Buffalo, New York, and West Palm Beach, Fla., tickets went for a whopping $9, while the venue in Uncasville, Conn., just up and gave them away).

While "the best damn thing" plays like a cruel joke to most of the country, Rio Grande Valley fans are singing a different tune. Don't hold your breath for last-minute free tickets, Dodge Arena officials warn - in fact, expect something closer to a full house.

"The real fans won't believe stuff like that that they've heard," said Richard Nieto, a self-proclaimed No. 1 Avril fan from Weslaco. "She's unique and doesn't care about what anyone thinks."

Nieto, a 16-year-old Weslaco East High School sophomore, takes pride in his love, er, borderline obsession with the singer. The walls in his room are equally divided between Britney Spears (his other obsession) and Lavigne.

Five years ago he begged a Wal-Mart manager for a life-size cutout, which he still holds near and dear to his heart.

"Everyone's going to be talked bad about and she just doesn't care," he said. "With tickets not selling, when you really look into it on YouTube it's not anything like that."

Come Thursday, Nieto and his entire family will be up close at Dodge Arena, marking his second time seeing Lavigne in concert.

What is it about the Canadian singer that gets people so riled up? Is it her angst-ridden persona, her infectious pop songs or the fact that she's still going strong even in a dark time in the music industry?

Ask the tween rebels. The college co-eds and their boyfriends in the frat. The metalhead with a soft-spot for a cute scowl and a manicured middle finger.

Lavigne's deeply diverse and widespread fan base has kept its allegiance ever since the the pint-sized spit fire exploded onto the scene as the antichrist of the Britney/Xtina religion that flourished at the turn of the millennium. Lavigne's fist-pounding antics, punk-lite uniform and against-the-grain mentality galvanized millions of young, middle-class teenagers who liked the idea (if not the reality) of rebelling through rock.

Not everybody, however, was so convinced. Since her debut in 2002, she's been branded time and again with the scarlet letters of the industry: P-O-S-E-R. To many, she's a sheep in wolf's clothes, yet another pop product whose ragtag look and "screw you" attitude are just a bastardized replica of the real thing.

Even Avril is bewildered by her own paradox.

"Music and fashion? I don't really know if the way I dressed influenced people to listen to different music, I'm not sure," she told The Weekly Dig during a teleconference.  

"I don't think I would really know. I do think what was cool about my first record, and how I was dressing had a lot of people, a lot of my fans ... ended up dressing like me, so I was a little trendsetter. I think that was cool. I'm not sure. If you want to talk about a fan of mine ... if I probably talked about ‘Oh, I like to listen to Green Day' ... or whatever. Maybe they would go buy a Green Day record."

Uh, yeah.

For most casual audiophiles, Lavigne falls into that happy midpoint between Beatles heaven and Monkees hell - the Guilty Pleasure.

We still blast 2002's "Complicated" when it comes on the radio. We've managed to forget "Sk8er Boi." "My Happy Ending" fit our sour mood in 2004, and "Boyfriend" kind of reminded us why she's the "mother(expletive)ing princess," emphasis on the adjective.

Nieto hopes to hear "I Can Do Better," "Losing Grip" and "My Happy Ending."

"Her music deals with real life situations not like any other kind of music," he said. "I'm happy that she's not like everyone else is, getting into trouble, no matter what her music is what helps us and that's why we like her."

Lavigne, or Mrs. Deryck Whibley (she tied the knot in 2006 with her longtime love, also the lead singer for the band Sum 41) insists she's done some growing up and her live show proves that notion.

"The show is going to be very upbeat and the production will be bigger in the sense of what you just said, ... dancers on a couple of songs, and LED screens, and I'm going to have checkered flooring," she said. "I have a pink sparkle drum kit, a pink piano being made, flags.

"Over time I just learned how I need to be on stage. I'm more confident. It's just more dynamic, brighter, and more colorful. I'm excited about it because I've been working on the show for a very long time now and this is going to be really fun to finally go play."

Uh, yeah.

 ---

Miriam Ramirez covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4468.

Avril Lavigne

with Boys Like Girls

WHEN: Thursday, April 24

WHERE: Dodge Arena

COST: $32.50, $45 (plus convenience fee)

FOR MORE INFO: (956) 668-7740

 *For more on Richard Nieto's pop star obsession, visit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NJo3SHqPwHY