No Doubt

First, the Nu Sounds came on. A Swedish band whose female lead, despite her strong voice, echoed along the walls of a mostly empty amphitheater. By the time my Coors Light buzz started to wear off, the only thing I could think was “Please God, get this second rate, wannabe Gwen off the stage,” and that this gyrating blond harpy should stop her Swedish leg kicks and crotch splitting pole grinding – Where’s Gwen? Where’s Paramore, and when do the Nu Sounds stop singing?

Paramore then assumed the stage and took to it in running, jumping, head-bangin’ reverie.

There was a disappointing lack of red lipstick in the audience and not a platinum blond in sight – I was expecting to see a panoply of Gwen-lookalikes and wannabes. The crowd filtered in slowly, the ‘sold out’ show barely packed even after Paramore made their appearance. My need-to-be-early-everywhere punctuality felt more foolish than ever since I had so far watched each opening band in agonizing expectation of the main attraction.

But nothing mattered the moment No Doubt came on. When their shadows graced a backlit white sheet, the crowd erupted and so did I. Thus ensued over an hour of jumping, sweating, singing, shouting, cheerful accolades in response to Gwen’s superlative, ab-bearing performance. Best night ever.

Goodnight.

Tags: CityWalk, Gibson Amphitheatre, Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Universal City