She’s still acting up

Ashlee Simpson appears heck-bent on showing the world that there’s more to her journey to the dark side than a bottle of black hair dye.

The formerly blond little sister of pop super-babe Jessica, Ashlee quickly figured out she’s never going to outshine big sis. So she -- or her dad or other handlers -- decided to give Simpson fans a clear choice: Jessica remains the fair-haired child, Ashlee’s now the black sheep.

But only to a point. At the kickoff of her first concert tour Wednesday at the Grove Theatre in Anaheim, the 20-year-old dancer-turned-singer-turned-actress did her best to act threatening, but it was pretty obvious through the hourlong set that that’s just what it is: an act.

There’s no real danger in her or her music, despite the crunching electric guitars and throbbing rhythm section beneath her rasped-out vocals. Unlike in her recent “Saturday Night Live” lip-syncing debacle, however, there was no question Wednesday that Simpson was singing what emanated from the speakers.

More playfully naughty than bad, Simpson earns artistic credibility points in the teen-pop sweepstakes for writing all the songs on her debut album, “Autobiography,” and for zeroing in on an image that sets her apart from Jessica without going either so tarty or so menacing as to alienate the young girls who constitute 80% of her following.

Yet the most affecting part of her show, which Jessica and their dad watched from the sound booth, was when she dropped the decibels and pseudo-testosterone midway through and sang bits of three songs accompanied only by two members of her band strumming acoustic guitars.

That section provided the evening’s only moments that truly felt genuine, and the vulnerability she exhibited was far more appealing, and believable, than the tough-girl attitude she often feigns.

Her real strength, should she decide to more fully capitalize on it, is her Everygirl charm. Without Jessica’s eye-popping beauty or any real vocal gifts, she’s in a great position to connect with far more girls her age or younger who, watching her, can reasonably think, “If she can do it, maybe I can too.”

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Ashlee Simpson

Where: Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

When: Tonight, 8:15 p.m.

Price: $32 to $42

Contact: (818) 777-3931