There are pop shows. There are reggae shows. There are punk rock shows. There are electronic shows. And then there are No Doubt shows — which are all four.
No Doubt brought everything from R2D2 noises to hip-rolling reggae beats to the Riot Fest stage Friday night. The seasoned band had the crowd throwing its hands side to side, surfing and bouncing furiously up and down, delivering a show that was simple punk fun.
Frontwoman Gwen Stefani more than delivered. During “Hey Baby,” Stefani jumped into the pit and climbed on top of the barricade, singing to the crowd directly below. During one song transition, she pulled a fan on stage to take a selfie. During another, she made out with a fan, saying “I’m not going to tongue you. Just a kiss,” after discovering a tattoo of her on the fan’s arm.
Her biggest stunt? Climbing up two-thirds of a stage support column (seemingly free of any harness or safety measure) high above the crowd, leading a boys-versus-girls sing-along of “Just a Girl.” The girls, as the song’s title would suggest, won.
Stefani’s stage presence was so large, however, it seemed other high-energy band members were reluctantly holding back. Bassist Tony Kanal, who has the ups of an NBA All-Star, rocked “Bathwater,” leaping high in the air with each strum of his bass guitar. The frontwoman interacted with Kanal only a handful of times, and he was fairly limited to stage left throughout the 75-minute set — a bit of a disservice to his power as a performer.
Stephen Bradley (trumpet and keyboard) and Gabrial McNair (trombone and keyboard) seemed stuck in a second-tier stage position behind Stefani, Kanal and guitarist/keyboardist Tom Dumont for most of the performance. Yet the two brought intensity to the stage when behind their keyboards, infusing hip-hop, reggae and robotic dance moves to provide a backdrop for the other band members. And their horn solos and collaborations (performed center stage with no other band members in sight) during “Underneath It All” and “Sparkle,” respectively, were surprising highlights for both of those songs.
Dumont proved to be a relative wet rag on stage, offering little-to-no stage presence. And drummer Adrian Young stayed put behind the drums, only surfacing to thank the crowd at the end of the set.
“Hella Good” was a perfect intro song. During that performance, No Doubt delivered set-opening intensity, though it immediately waned in the subsequent “It’s My Life” and was only resurrected during crowd favorites “Ex-Girlfriend,” “Sunday Morning” (it was surprising how much of the audience knew this song) and “Just a Girl.”
Halfway through the show, the band shrunk the stage, coming together in a U-shape in an attempt at increased intimacy. At first, the transition felt contrived, but it worked for “Simple Kind of Life,” in which No Doubt played against a video screen displaying family videos. (They were assumedly of Stefani’s family given the close ups of a young blonde girl, but the video also contained a set of synchronized surfing women — a little odd for a family video — so who knows?) All in all, the more intimate setting did somewhat mute Stefani’s overwhelming stage presence — a much-needed reprieve.
The group wrapped up with a “Spiderwebs” encore. Though it was difficult to maintain “Just a Girl’s” high-flying intensity, the choice was a strong farewell. The crowd, hands high in the air, sent Stefani and the rest of the band out with energy.
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