taken from: Seattle Weekly & Beacon Street
With the first plaintive verses of 1995’s “Just a Girl,” Gwen Stefani and No Doubt ushered in a new era of enticingly flagrant girl power. So sorry, Katy Perry and Lady GaGa – those in-your-face poses? The boudoir-meets-couture outfits? It’s all been done before, and better, by Stefani, the only woman who could make bindis, blue hair and braces trendy. It’s been five years since No Doubt played together – a hiatus in which Stefani produced two solo albums and two babies – but now Gwen and the boys are back on the road. The tour precedes a new album that will be released in 2010 and has the band dressed in all white, a là A Clockwork Orange, playing fan favorites from the reggae and dance pop of their later albums and quite a bit from the ska-reviving Tragic Kingdom, including the iconic “Don’t Speak.” These are good people, too – much of the proceeds from the tour will go to charity. With Paramore. All ages.
Sun., July 19, 7:30 p.m., 2009