No Doubt Are Hella Good

Toronto, ON

Air Canada Centre

Sheena Lyonnais (CHARTattack)

06/17/2009 4:28pm

No Doubt have that rare ability to remain glamorous and timeless in a way few Hollywood rock groups do. They're constantly redefining themselves and proving their merit in fresh ways when they could likely ride the coattails of 1995's Tragic Kingdom.

That's why it was no surprise they perfected everything from elaborate stage setups to the bare bones of their supporting acts for their Air Canada Centre show on Tuesday night. Rather than choosing cookie cutter wannabes, No Doubt invited Bedouin Soundclash to support their reggae/ska/chill side and Paramore to support their punky/pop/rock side.

Fuck, I love Bedouin. They tore into their set with a two-piece brass section, a new and welcome addition to their soft reggae vibes. The new additions seem to provoke an impressive new energy in the band, more so than I've seen before.

Vocalist Jay Malinowski's sexy voice perfectly complimented Eon Sinclair's killer bass lines to the point where it made me feel grateful to live in a time when music like this exists. They played hits like "When The Night Feels My Song" and "St. Andrews," but it was their passion and talent that shone the brightest over any one song.

Paramore were next and began their set with a wicked drum solo. This performance was packed with intense energy and excitement.

They played crowd favourites "Misery Business" and Rock Band 2's "That's What You Get," but I was most interested in their new material. The band are gearing up to release their third album and played two new tracks: "Ignorance" and "Where The Lines Overlap." The new tracks aren't much of a departure from previous material, but they do show a potentially more exciting move into more solid rock.

Finally, No Doubt took the stage. I'm probably one of the few 20-somethings who hadn't seen the band live before, so I was extremely impressed by their futuristic stage set up. Everything was white, including their risers, equipment and outfits.

They wasted no time tearing into "Spiderwebs," while Gwen Stefani showed off her ridiculously fit post-baby body. In the background, a huge screen played interesting pop art footage of the band, most of which I imagine was recorded prior to the tour, but there was also some enjoyable vintage No Doubt footage, too.

Stefani's genuine appreciation for her fans was one thing that was immediately obvious. Within the first half-hour, she had invited one fan up on stage for having a No Doubt tattoo and another for writing the lyrics to "Let's Get Back" on a giant poster for her to sing. That stint was short though, as the lyrics were wrong.

Stefani frequently took the time to engage the audience, and at the end of the performance she signed autographs for the fans who were close enough to the stage. Perhaps this is one of the reasons No Doubt continue to tower — not only are they great musicians, but they're great people, too.

Their enthusiastic hour and a half performance included "Ex-Girlfriend," "Underneath It All" and "Don't Speak" and ended on a fun, revved-up version of "Just A Girl." They came back for an encore of "Rock Steady," a percussion-heavy cover version of Adam And The Ants' "Stand And Deliver" where they all played drums, and finally, "Sunday Morning."

The last time I saw a concert that felt this big was when I was second row for AC/DC. This is a huge comparison, but a warranted one. One thing is certain: No Doubt know how to put on one hella good show. Pun intended.

To view more No Doubt photos, click here.