Concert Review
Jessica and Ashlee Simpson offer unabashed, saccharine fun

By Rachel Devitt
Special to The Seattle Times

RICH SUGG / THE KANSAS CITY STAR Jessica Simpson, shown here in Bonner Springs, Kan., had some Seattle-style heat to deal with Saturday when she performed at White River Amphitheatre in Auburn with sister Ashlee.

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But I've decided that everything one needs to know in life can be learned from the Simpson sisters.

Lesson 1: Sibling rivalry can be neatly nipped in the bud by providing each with her own box of hair dye, reality TV show, and pop-starlette personality. Jessica, of course, chose the time-honored Britney clone route long ago. Ashlee has opted for the Avril Lavigne (with shades of Gwen Stefani thrown in for good measure) brand of pop-punk angst. Each sibling should also be encouraged to mimic her favorite celebrity icon while performing — Jessica swallowed her notes like a top-notch Cher impersonator, while Ashlee's flopping and pouting around the stage made for good, old-fashioned Steven Tyler fun.

The success of this envy-deterring technique was keenly evident during "Shadow," Ashlee's touching tribute to her family, which featured her wailing lyrics like "Trying to find a hand to hold but every touch felt cold to me/living in a nightmare" before thanking her family for letting Ashlee break free of her chains.

Lesson 2: Pink is the new black. From the pink trucker hats at Jessica's merch stand to the fierce-looking posses of 8-year-old (and middle-aged) fans in rose-hued Paris Hilton minis, the girly-girls (and boys) of the world united under Jessica to stage guerrilla warfare on drab colors (and grumpy critics) everywhere.

Lesson 3: Just about any emotion you can think of is most effectively conveyed with the "Hey ye-yeah yeah yeah" method of singing. True love? Jessica ditches the pretty, heady soprano she works so hard to hide to improvise a snarlingly belted "hey ye-yeah yeah yeah" during a love song's climax. Heartbreak? Ashlee, sounding like Jessica with a two-pack-a-day candy cigarette habit, gives us a gravelly, Hot Topic version over her rockin' Warped Tour-hungry backing band.

Review July 24, 2004 White River Amphitheatre

Lesson 4: Pop is undeniably wedded to spectacle. When that spectacle is milked, and especially when it is done with an almost complete lack of seriousness (Jessica interrupted a saccharine and disturbing ballad about being a "daddy's girl" to remark on the smell of barbecue in the air), one's best recourse is to quit grumbling about musical integrity and enjoy the show for what it is — unabashed, sugary fun.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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