Boredom not an option at Gwen Stefani concert
By Kevin W. Smith
Arizona Daily Star
“This is the end of the dance-record phase of my life,” Gwen Stefani proclaimed to a sold-out show at AVA Monday night. “I’m going back to No Doubt.”
Despite Stefani’s allegiance to the other three musicians in the veteran Orange County, Calif., rock band No Doubt — from which she got her start — it’s hard to imagine things ever being the same.
No Doubt hasn’t released an album of new material since 2001, and Stefani has since become one of the planet’s biggest pop stars, starting off in 2004 with her unexpected smash solo debut, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”
When she says she’s returning whence she came, you applaud the loyalty but also scratch your head.
There wasn’t a single No Doubt song played at AVA, but the mostly female all-ages crowd, some dressed like their idol, came for Stefani’s offbeat brand of hip-pop.
The show started with a largely underwhelming set by teen singer Sean Kingston, who delivered his reggae-infused pop with the kind of intensity better suited to a mall food court than an amphitheater.
Luckily, Kingston set the stage for Stefani, who is the total pop package: singing and rapping in her quirky yet unmistakable girlish voice and exuding a personable charm behind an electric smile that is nothing short of irresistible.
Stefani also brings a vivid style and imagination that has become as much a part of her persona as her music.
Just prior to her opener, “The Sweet Escape,” off the 2006 album of the same name, the venue lights went down and dancers dressed as cops and robbers ran around the audience, eventually finding their way on stage.
As red sirens blared, a full band on a giant riser appeared. The riser split in two, revealing a gold jail cell containing the leggy Stefani with her signature platinum ponytail and bright red lipstick, dressed in a sequined black-and-white striped prisoner outfit.
Each song in the AVA show was nothing short of a full-blown production, with up to eight dancers (half of which were Stefani’s trademark Harajuku Girls), set changes and funky, colorful costumes, from prep school to kimonos, coordinated to each tune.
Large video screens and a giant, lit-up letter “G” that looked like it was swiped from a Vegas marquee completed the stage setup, but it was Stefani whom you needed sunglasses for.
The 38-year-old is so genuinely enthusiastic and engaging, boredom is not an option. Always on the move, she’d be running and jumping around the stage for “Hollaback Girl,” and shortly after, singing the song “Cool” from the audience aisle in between the grass and seats of AVA.
She took several moments to talk with fans, who rewarded her with flower bouquets, balloons and in one case, a frog pillow.
It was during these candid interludes that Stefani let slip several f-bombs, which probably didn’t comfort the parents who brought kids, but that’s yet another thing to love about Stefani the pop star: underneath, she’s still an unpolished rock star.
Stefani told the crowd it was around the 95th show of the tour and you wonder if it’s times like these when she’s missing the comfort of glancing over at her bassist and knowing that’s the same guy she went to high school with and formed No Doubt.
She closed with the fist-pumping anthem that ignited her solo career, “What You Waiting For?” The song details her inner battle and insecurities of becoming a solo artist.
A star-making three years later, Stefani is doing Hewlett-Packard TV commercials, selling Barbie-like dolls in her likeness, designing her own clothing line (L.A.M.B.), and playing arenas around the globe.
You wonder if there’s any way she can go back to being just a girl in No Doubt’s world.
Despite Stefani’s allegiance to the other three musicians in the veteran Orange County, Calif., rock band No Doubt — from which she got her start — it’s hard to imagine things ever being the same.
No Doubt hasn’t released an album of new material since 2001, and Stefani has since become one of the planet’s biggest pop stars, starting off in 2004 with her unexpected smash solo debut, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”
When she says she’s returning whence she came, you applaud the loyalty but also scratch your head.
There wasn’t a single No Doubt song played at AVA, but the mostly female all-ages crowd, some dressed like their idol, came for Stefani’s offbeat brand of hip-pop.
The show started with a largely underwhelming set by teen singer Sean Kingston, who delivered his reggae-infused pop with the kind of intensity better suited to a mall food court than an amphitheater.
Luckily, Kingston set the stage for Stefani, who is the total pop package: singing and rapping in her quirky yet unmistakable girlish voice and exuding a personable charm behind an electric smile that is nothing short of irresistible.
Stefani also brings a vivid style and imagination that has become as much a part of her persona as her music.
Just prior to her opener, “The Sweet Escape,” off the 2006 album of the same name, the venue lights went down and dancers dressed as cops and robbers ran around the audience, eventually finding their way on stage.
As red sirens blared, a full band on a giant riser appeared. The riser split in two, revealing a gold jail cell containing the leggy Stefani with her signature platinum ponytail and bright red lipstick, dressed in a sequined black-and-white striped prisoner outfit.
Each song in the AVA show was nothing short of a full-blown production, with up to eight dancers (half of which were Stefani’s trademark Harajuku Girls), set changes and funky, colorful costumes, from prep school to kimonos, coordinated to each tune.
Large video screens and a giant, lit-up letter “G” that looked like it was swiped from a Vegas marquee completed the stage setup, but it was Stefani whom you needed sunglasses for.
The 38-year-old is so genuinely enthusiastic and engaging, boredom is not an option. Always on the move, she’d be running and jumping around the stage for “Hollaback Girl,” and shortly after, singing the song “Cool” from the audience aisle in between the grass and seats of AVA.
She took several moments to talk with fans, who rewarded her with flower bouquets, balloons and in one case, a frog pillow.
It was during these candid interludes that Stefani let slip several f-bombs, which probably didn’t comfort the parents who brought kids, but that’s yet another thing to love about Stefani the pop star: underneath, she’s still an unpolished rock star.
Stefani told the crowd it was around the 95th show of the tour and you wonder if it’s times like these when she’s missing the comfort of glancing over at her bassist and knowing that’s the same guy she went to high school with and formed No Doubt.
She closed with the fist-pumping anthem that ignited her solo career, “What You Waiting For?” The song details her inner battle and insecurities of becoming a solo artist.
A star-making three years later, Stefani is doing Hewlett-Packard TV commercials, selling Barbie-like dolls in her likeness, designing her own clothing line (L.A.M.B.), and playing arenas around the globe.
You wonder if there’s any way she can go back to being just a girl in No Doubt’s world.
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