No Doubt hadn’t played a concert in nine years due largely to singer Gwen Stefani‘s life outside the Orange County ska-punk band, which made their reunion show at Coachella a must-see set for a wide swath of fans at the desert festival on Saturday, April 13.
And, with maybe just a few hints of rust, fans got the show of their long-delayed dreams. Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young showed up full of energy and enthusiasm. The band played plenty of big hits as well as a handful of early songs that hadn’t been played in years even before the band went on hiatus after performing at the Kaaboo Festival in Del Mar in 2015.
And alternative pop singer Olivia Rodrigo, who at 21 has some of that sass that Stefani has always displayed, showed up to join the band for a song, too.
No Doubt kicked off its set with “Hella Good,” playing on a remote set surrounded by fans. It’s the one that urges listeners to keep on dancing, and Stefani made clear from the start that she wanted to see people moving. “This is the situation,” she said during the song. “I need to see every single (bleepin’) person here jumping with me.”
Back on the main stage, the band kept up the momentum, blazing through “Keep On Dancing,” “Ex-Girlfriend,” and their cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life.”
All of the core four wore clothes that featured some kind of plaid — red and black, in particular, but some with green and yellow and gold, too. Stefani’s platinum blonde hair was tied into two tight topknots, front to back instead of side by side. Kanal wore a vintage Police concert T. Young’s red lipstick matched Stefani’s shade more or less.
“Did you really show up to Coachella 2024 to see No Doubt play together for the first time in nine years?” she asked the crowd between “Hey Baby” and the early song “Total Hate ’95.” “Are you crazy?”
At 54, Stefani had endless energy on stage, running from one side to the other, dropping to the floor to do a set of pushups before singing “Just a Girl” late in the set, and generally hyping up the crowd all night long. Most of her exhortations were perfectly fine. “This my life!” seemed a little self-focused for a band that has struggled to stay together. “This is our lives!” quickly followed, so at least she eventually included the guys.
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Rodrigo joined the band to sing “Bathwater,” a song No Doubt recorded before the Temecula native was born, trading verses with Stefani and dancing at one point with Kanal, though to be fair, he mostly played bass and she danced around him.
“Just a Girl” might have had the most people singing of any song in the set, partly because Stefani had the guys in the crowd sing “I’m just a girl” over and over until she was satisfied with their volume, and then, after climbing to the top of a scaffolding, doing the same with the girls.
“Don’t Speak” and “Spiderwebs” wrapped up the set and what had been more or less a huge audience sing-along for an hour and 15 minutes.
And now we wait: Was this it? Will they tour? For now, this was plenty, and for the rest, we shall see.