[ad_1]
“You never thought this would really happen, did you?” Gwen Stefani cried during her reunion set at Coachella 2024, midway through No Doubt opener “Hella Good.”
In fact, it’s been 12 years since the Southern California quartet reunited for their last album, Push ‘N Shove, and last played together in 2015. (Stefani pointed this out multiple times throughout her Coachella set.) Since then, Stefani has been something of a cult personality, constantly active on TV as a judge on “The Voice,” and as a judge on “The Voice.” Even with her glory days as Doubt, she released a few one-off singles to remind us that, first and foremost, she was still a singer. Her frontwoman and solo giant of the 2000s is not far behind her.
Perhaps No Doubt’s reunion at Coachella is a well-deserved reassurance that they show no signs of getting rusty more than 30 years after debuting with their 1992 album of the same name, or perhaps a colorful, energetic album. It may have served as a statement. The band, made up of Stefani, bassist Tony Canal, guitarist Tom Dumont, and drummer Adrian Young, looked as if they were still the feisty teenagers in the vintage footage projected on the screen behind them. They played an 80-minute set full of vibrancy and sparkle. .
It would have been easy for No Doubt to be recognized as one of the weekend’s de facto nostalgia acts. And in a sense, they were on the same lineup, gracing the same main stage that Sabrina Carpenter and Lil Uzi Vert touched the day before. But especially for a band whose members are all in their mid-50s, it’s a testament to their chemistry since they formed and their subsequent rise to the mainstream that they can still harness that same energy with such conviction.
Of course, it also helps that Stefani is such a charming and charismatic frontwoman. Her tone was near perfect throughout, and she didn’t waste a breath, even when she was ska dancing across the canal or jumping up and down the stage to stir up the crowd. But almost a decade after putting the group on ice, the band members were so in tune with each other that it brought back the early days of “Total Hate ’95.” It gave new life to the song. Or the fiery “Hella Good” that opened the performance.
Formed in Anaheim, California, in 1986, the group embraced the ska aesthetic, right down to their dance moves, horns, and fashion choices. Plaid was sprinkled all over the stage, from Stefani’s black and red boots to Young’s kilt. They paraded hits like “Ex-Girlfriend,” “It’s My Life,” “Hey Baby,” and “Don’t Speak,” interspersed with deeper cuts like “Different People” and “Happy Now?” I did. (But it was strange that they didn’t play a single song from “Push and Shove”).
Stefani herself was surprised that so many people decided to watch their set. After all, for his Gen Z audience at the festival, No Doubt is probably the band their parents grew up listening to. But No Doubt felt relevant and fresh. Even when Olivia Rodrigo duetted with the band midway through their set for “Bathwater,” she didn’t seem like she was trying to charm the audience. That part had already been accomplished.
That’s probably because No Doubt was just having fun and didn’t make it feel like work. (Especially when Stefani got on the ground and did 10 push-ups before “Just a Girl.”) “When I was putting on my makeup, I was just thinking, ‘This is actually happening right now.’ Is that so?” she said, before launching into the feminist anthem that recently made a comeback on TikTok. “Because we’re absolutely in the future with you guys right now. I want to do the next song with this band here, No Doubt. We wrote this song at Beacon Street House in Anaheim, California. But somehow, you might say, but I feel like this song might be more meaningful than ever before.
No Doubt’s relevance had been dormant for a while, but I couldn’t help but feel like this was a triumphant return. It wouldn’t be surprising if their Coachella performance became a testing ground for future large-scale tours. If the roar from the crowd and participation during the call and response is any indication, they may need to write a new chapter in the future.
No Doubt’s Coachella setlist:
“Hella Good”
“Sunday morning”
“Ex-girlfriend”
“it’s my life”
“Different people”
“Hey, baby.”
“Total Hate ’95”
“Bathwater” with Olivia Rodrigo
“Simple life”
“Underneath everything”
“Are you happy now?”
“new”
“Just a girl”
“Don’t talk”
“Spiderweb”
[ad_2]
Source link