In the video for No Doubt’s biggest hit, “Don’t Speak,” the guys in the band silently snub singer Gwen Stefani, resentful over the disproportionate attention she’s receiving from the press. If that video spoke to real tensions, it’s hard to imagine they’ve eased any during the past half decade, given how Stefani’s solo career has established her as one of the world’s biggest pop stars, yet No Doubt returned this year seemingly unchanged by Stefani’s pop successes. At recent reunion performances, Stefani’s even shelved her high-fashion wardrobes in favor of her old trademark white tank top, and eschewed her recent choreographed dance routines in favor of old-school skanking and the occasional on-stage push-up. The group hopes to release a studio new album next year; it will be their first since 2001’s Rock Steady.
Openers Paramore have earned No Doubt comparisons for how their charismatic front-woman Hayley Williams has garnered more coverage than her male bandmates. The group’s sound is marked by a harder, more-emo edge than No Doubt’s, though, and a younger lyrical focus, with Williams singing of clique politics, high-school crushes and other matters of adolescence.
