Through the highs and lows of modern celebrity, Ashlee Simpson is keeping a lot of enthusiastic fans in her corner.

About 2,300 of them gathered Tuesday at the Murat Theatre, where the crowd stomped and cheered to rival the December night in 1998 when 'N Sync played the grand old hall and supporting act Britney Spears lip-synced her way through a 20-minute appearance.

The frenzied pulse of teen pop carried Simpson's performance. And there's something thrilling -- dare we say "authentic" -- about youthful devotion.

The girls don't love Ashlee because she has a great voice. When the 20-year-old Texan clanged dozens of out-of-tune notes during an encore rendition of "Pieces of Me," the audience came to the rescue by singing the right ones.

This raised a question of what's worse: using a recorded vocal track on "Saturday Night Live" or exposing your true limitations?

Anyway, the girls love Ashlee because she rocks.

During her brief 65 minutes onstage, Simpson added snarling attitude to every tune, and she scampered across every inch of the black-and-white set.

She showed off her version of the Axl Rose shimmy, she improvised a stop-and-go Frankenstein walk and she punctuated many numbers with a laugh.

In short, Simpson had fun -- which separates her from the ever-gloomy Avril Lavigne.

Kelly Osbourne aspires to Simpson's boldness, but Ozzy's daughter lacks the charisma.

On the topic of charisma, Ashlee outshines her sister, Jessica, her brother-in-law, Nick Lachey, and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ryan Cabrera.

On Tuesday, she kept her chin up and told her loyalists what she gained from past embarrassments: "I learned you don't have to be perfect."

With only her "Autobiography" album in stores, Simpson filled time by singing a medley of three oldies from the '80s.

The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket" gave way to Blondie's "Call Me," which segued to Madonna's "Burning Up," which foreshadowed the steamy suggestiveness of the next tune, her own "La La."

And once again, neither Simpson nor her fans faked their good time.

Supporting act the Click Five may represent the future of power pop.

Featuring Indianapolis natives in vocalist Eric Dill and drummer Joey Zehr, the band looks and sounds like fictional '60s band the Wonders from the movie "That Thing You Do!"

The Click Five's debut single, "Just the Girl," happens to be the work of Adam Schlesinger -- the Fountains of Wayne mastermind who also wrote the Wonders' only hit for director Tom Hanks.