No Doubt about it

Courtesy of www.hallucinet.com/no_doubt Arizona Daily Wildcat No Doubt's Gwen Stefani and the gang

I spent the last four months psyching myself up for the No Doubt concert. All the lyrics were memorized and implanted in my brain. My ears couldn't get enough of the songs off the "Tragic Kingdom" album. I even picked up the May issue of Rolling Stone b ecause No Doubt graced its cover. But my enthusiasm did not prepare me for the performance I was about to witness. It was undoubtedly one of the best concerts I've been to.

I had been looking forward to this concert for such a long time that I didn't want anything to destroy the moment (can you tell I'm a fan?) So, with glitter on my face and my No Doubt T-shirt (yes, I had to buy one), my adrenaline was pumping as I stood t here among the huge crowd of fans in anticipation. Most girls even went as far as imitating the dress style of Gwen Stefani, No Doubt's lead singer, with baggy pants and tiny halter tops.

I was pumped up and ready to scream, yell, sing, and jump.

My energy dwindled after the Vandals opened up the show. Everyone was seated, no one was really crazy over them (that's because we all couldn't wait to see No Doubt). In fact, I was completely unimpressed and a bit disgusted by the Vandals. They mostly s ang covers, one of which was "Summer Nights," from the Grease soundtrack and "Supercalifragilisticexpealadotious," from Mary Poppins (lame). They even sang a song with the lyrics, "It's my birthday, Fuck you!" (isn't that pleasant?) Half the time I didn't even understand what they were saying because they sang so fast.

Cake was next. They were definitely a break from the Vandals, not as obnoxious. I knew a few of their songs, so I was able to enjoy their stage time. Cake put on a much better show even though they also sang a cover of "I Will Survive."

I couldn't help but become more anxious about seeing the band that I had come to listen to in the first place. Get these guys out of here and bring out No Doubt.

At 9:45 p.m., the lights dimmed, people stood up and the screams reached peak levels.

No Doubt hadn't even set foot on stage and the fans were already cheering. Of course, I could hardly see anything because there were two teenage girls standing on their seats, shrieking "Gwen! Gwen!"

Just as I was going crazy and screaming like a lunatic fan, much like most people there, a thought crossed my mind. What if I didn't like them live in concert? What if their personality didn't fit the one I had imagined?

Their first song began and all my expectations were met. I realize many bands tend to alter their songs from their original recording during a concert; however, No Doubt didn't modify their songs too much.

They opened up with the theme song from Disneyland's Electric Light Parade which was a transition into their song "Tragic Kingdom." The stage was lit up with a multitude of colored lights and huge fake oranges were hanging from the stage. In the back was a screen on which a picture of an orange grove was projected, which went along with the whole citrus theme.

No Doubt came on stage and the crowd lost it. Sweat pouring down my face, I was singing with the songs I knew, and screaming through the parts I didn't know.

There was a lot of audience participation (yes, there were crowd surfers as well). "How many boys do we have out there?" Gwen asked during the song "Just a Girl."

"Yell if you're a boy," she said in her high voice. Of course, all the males in the audience flipped out. "OK, repeat after me," she continued, "I'm just a girl." Naturally, all the "boys" did what Gwen said. Then she had all the "girls" in the audience say "Fuck you, I'm a girl!"

True, this wasn't the world's most monumental moment, but it was fun nonetheless - hey, at least it was better than when the Vandals tried to get the crowd to "oooh aaah" during one of their songs ... and failed. During the (overplayed, but my favorite) s ong "Don't Speak" Gwen stopped singing during the first verse and listened as the crowd yelled the lyrics in perfect harmony.

As always, time flies when you're having fun, and the concert seemed to come to an end quickly. After the band left the stage, the cheering continued expectantly for an encore presentation. The stage lights dimmed only to reveal a projected image of a spi der web. No Doubt came out and performed their last song, "Spiderwebs."

Their finale consisted of several members of Cake and Vandals reappearing on stage and singing the famous Beatles song "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da."

Rachel Ramirez, communication sophomore, also attended the concert. This was the second time she had seen No Doubt.

"No Doubt puts on an awesome show," says Ramirez, having seen them at the Electric Ballroom last summer, where she passed out from heat exhaustion. She would definitely see them again. So would I.

On that note, it was definitely a concert "Packed with Sunkist."