Duff drawas young crowd

Thursday, August 30, 2007
By Laura Silvius
Contributing writer

It's hard to believe it was four years ago that Hilary Duff took that plunge that is inevitable of all tween icons in this day and age (especially those under Disney's control) and released her first album.

When Duff, 19, returned to the state fair for a concert Wednesday (her last one was in 2005), one might have expected her fans to have grown up with her. But most looked barely old enough to warrant the label "tween," which applies to children between the ages of 8 and 12. Perhaps it is Duff's still-wholesome image that prevents her demographic from aging as she does. But she plays the part of the tween queen wonderfully, complete with a full-on light show, costume changes, background dancers and supplemental video.

The costumes and choreography had more sex appeal than anticipated for a show geared toward such an age group, but the tweens didn't mind. In fact, Duff seemed quite at home in her tween-dom. Duff performed primarily songs from her most recent album, "Dignity," which premiered in April. Though not without talent, Duff's voice varied from sounding relatively common to downright meager. At times she sings as clear as a bell, at other times she's obviously straining.

Duff doesn't possess a strong voice, but it's a distinct one, and she moves from song to song without much effort. The arrangements and back-up singers managed to help her find her way through the more difficult spots, but often it seemed that the talented individuals on stage with Duff were having more fun than she was.

Opening for Duff was The Click Five, a rock band that took the stage in the snappy costumes that are almost a trademark, making them look reminiscent of the Beatles (though with slightly shaggier hair). It was clear who had attended the concert especially for the band, because they averaged five to seven years over those who came wearing Hilary Duff T-shirts.

The quintet warmed up the crowd beautifully. Promoting their new album, "Modern Minds and Pastimes," which was released in June, the band played with strong lead vocals in Kyle Patrick, who has been with the band less than a year, and an undeniable bass talent in Ethan Mentzer. The other members of the band are Joe Guese on guitar, Ben Romans on keyboard and Joey Zehr on drums.

The five come from Boston: all but Zehr attended the Berklee College of Music. They have one hit from 2005, "Just The Girl," and the single "Jenny" from the new album.
A couple of the songs sounded like one another, but for the most part the band demonstrated an irrefutable appeal, and audience members nodded their heads in time.

Courtesy: syracuse.com