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By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal pop music writer
POSTED: 02:04 p.m. EDT, Jun 30, 2009
When Gwen Stefani released solo albums Love.Angel.Music.Baby and The Sweet Escape, and had a couple of babies, many fans assumed it was the end of No Doubt, despite the band members' denials.
But three years later, Stefani is back to being just a girl in a band of boys, and Monday night at Blossom Music Center everyone seemed quite happy to be a band again.
The tour doubles as a way for the group to reacquaint themselves with each other and with fans. The group has no new material to push, so the set list for the 90-plus-minute performance mixed most of the hits with a few deep album cuts, which seeemed to stump fans whose No Doubt collections began and ended with the 2004 singles compilation.
Stefani, a confident and animated performer, is different when backed by the boys. On her highly entertaining and choreographed solo tours, Stefani played more of a Madonna role, queen bee of the stage leading a phalanx of dancers and changing her couture outfits every few songs. As lead singer of No Doubt, she was unquestionably still the focal point but seemed freer, more spontaneous and a bit more relaxed as she bounded from one end of the spacious all-white stage to other, wiggling her hips and still showing off her nearly 40-year-old, post-birth, rock-hard abs.
The band, all in white with black accents, played an energetic set to a crowd of 22,000-plus, heavily populated with teenage and twentysomething women, as well as their chaperones, boyfriends and plenty of fans in the band's peer group.
Entering to the theme from Battlestar Galactica, the band tore into Spiderwebs from breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom. That brought the crowd to its feet for the first and only time of the evening, as no one used their chairs, instead dancing and singing along to the dance-rock of Hella Good and the reggae groove of Underneath It All. The band filled in the spaces between hits with several non-hits from Tragic Kingdom, including fan favorite Excuse Me Mr., Different People and the seldom-performed End It On This.
Throughout the show Stefani looked and sounded great, and on some of the older material she showed that she is a much stronger singer than in the band's early days. She only changed twice (the band covered her midshow change by chugging through the ska classic Guns of Navarone) and spent much of the night telling the highly excited and enamored crowd how awesome they were. No one minded that she likely will say the exact same thing to the next adoring crowd.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
When Gwen Stefani released solo albums Love.Angel.Music.Baby and The Sweet Escape, and had a couple of babies, many fans assumed it was the end of No Doubt, despite the band members' denials.
But three years later, Stefani is back to being just a girl in a band of boys, and Monday night at Blossom Music Center everyone seemed quite happy to be a band again.
The tour doubles as a way for the group to reacquaint themselves with each other and with fans. The group has no new material to push, so the set list for the 90-plus-minute performance mixed most of the hits with a few deep album cuts, which seeemed to stump fans whose No Doubt collections began and ended with the 2004 singles compilation.
Stefani, a confident and animated performer, is different when backed by the boys. On her highly entertaining and choreographed solo tours, Stefani played more of a Madonna role, queen bee of the stage leading a phalanx of dancers and changing her couture outfits every few songs. As lead singer of No Doubt, she was unquestionably still the focal point but seemed freer, more spontaneous and a bit more relaxed as she bounded from one end of the spacious all-white stage to other, wiggling her hips and still showing off her nearly 40-year-old, post-birth, rock-hard abs.
The band, all in white with black accents, played an energetic set to a crowd of 22,000-plus, heavily populated with teenage and twentysomething women, as well as their chaperones, boyfriends and plenty of fans in the band's peer group.
Entering to the theme from Battlestar Galactica, the band tore into Spiderwebs from breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom. That brought the crowd to its feet for the first and only time of the evening, as no one used their chairs, instead dancing and singing along to the dance-rock of Hella Good and the reggae groove of Underneath It All. The band filled in the spaces between hits with several non-hits from Tragic Kingdom, including fan favorite Excuse Me Mr., Different People and the seldom-performed End It On This.
Throughout the show Stefani looked and sounded great, and on some of the older material she showed that she is a much stronger singer than in the band's early days. She only changed twice (the band covered her midshow change by chugging through the ska classic Guns of Navarone) and spent much of the night telling the highly excited and enamored crowd how awesome they were. No one minded that she likely will say the exact same thing to the next adoring crowd.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Comments
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Wadsworth, OH
Posted 02:34 PM, 06/30/2009
what a great show last night!
Boston Hts, Oh
Posted 02:54 PM, 06/30/2009
It's been a long time since I've attended a Blossom show with the energy of last nights show!
Gwen was in fine form and the band was tight!
It was so nice to see the crowd on their feet the entire time!
Stow, OH
Posted 03:00 PM, 06/30/2009
Super show last night!
Akron, OH
Posted 03:44 PM, 06/30/2009
That show kicked! Big time! :)
Canton, OH
Posted 03:53 PM, 06/30/2009
SHE'S A HOT MAMA !!!!!!!!!!!! WITH APOLOGIES TO TRACE ADKINS
YOWZA !!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 05:09 PM, 06/30/2009
No Doubt was AWESOME (as usual) and Gwen is SOOO all about her fans!! It was great that she took time out for that guy to get a pic with her! Even I am jelous!! :)
