CALGARY -- As a jaded old man in the midst of 14,000 impressionable and over-excited youngsters, careful measure must be taken to avoid coming across as condescending.

So, keeping that in mind, how was last night's sold-out Saddledome show by Canadian junior rock princess Avril Lavigne?

Well, have you ever been in a house where every room has been completely child-proofed? All of the corners on the furniture have been padded, all of the sockets have been plugged and every knife or sharp object has been put out of harm's way.

The idea is to create safe, comfortable surroundings for a child's first experiences in the world outside of the womb.

Lavigne's show last night was remarkably similar. Except, for the most part, the children were pre-teens, teens and tweens -- by the way, be sure to check out my 38-part series on the phenomenon of tweens, beginning next week in the Sun -- and the world outside is, instead, the world of live music.

Even opening acts, West Coast Canadian bands Gob and Swollen Members, did their best to create a Tons-O-Fun vibe within their respective genres -- albeit with the odd PG-13 cuss word.

Cuddle punk quartet Gob put on a mildly cheeky set, displaying less spit and more polish with their punchy pogo-pop sound. They sounded great and put on a 30-minute set that pumped the energy up to a respectable, but unsurprisingly safe, level.

And Swollen Members, arguably one of the country's best hip hop acts, are also one of the most accessible.

Bouncy instead of confrontational, and giddy instead of gangsta, the Juno-winning Members were at their typically entertaining, pleasantly engaging best.

As for the mood created by headliner Lavigne and her very able quartet, it was pretty much the perfect experience for first-time rock fans to cut their teeth on.

The 18-year-old from Napanee, Ont., who, let's face it, is little more than a Back Street girl gone wild (that's a lower case 'w'), put on a 70-minute set that will hopefully act as a gateway show to something a little harder, more addictive and real.

And -- to slip into the jaded, old guy persona briefly -- hopefully something a little more entertaining.

As far as performers go, little Lavigne is less than dynamic. Vocally, she's got the goods, as she showed by seriously belting out all of the songs from her multi-million selling debut Let Go, such as concert opener Sk8er Boi, Mobile, Anything But Ordinary, and I'm With You.

As far as stage presence goes, for the first three-quarters of her set, she seemed about as indifferent and distant as she is in interviews, loosening up only so slightly near the end of the show.

There was little in the way of banter and audience interaction, save for the prerequisite "Hey, Calgary!" and bringing up of a pair of fans from the crowd to sing Complicated -- changed only slightly by including Gob goof Theo Goutzinakis.

The rest of her time on stage was spent engaging in the most elementary and basic rock star poses, such as the Fist Pump and the Cosmetic Guitar Strum. In fact, everything about her show -- the lights, video visuals and functional, not-flashy stage setup -- seemed taken straight out of the Live Rock Primer.

Let's hope there were enough in the crowd last night willing to learn from that lesson and seek out something more challenging.

And if not, at least for one night, they had somewhere safe to flash their very first devil sign. (More on Avril Lavigne)