No Doubt are back & it's about time

So please excuse the random photo post. I saw No Doubt last night and I'm feeling quite nostalgic, probably because I've been listening to them almost as long as I've listened to NIN (which is a long time). I remember being in elementary school wanting to be Gwen Stefani, in middle and high school wanting to be Gwen Stefani... then she released her solo records and lost a bit of her appeal to me. So needless to say I'm ecstatic that No Doubt are back on the road and soon to be in the studio again, after almost a decade of no new music.

The show last night way awesome, even if I looked like a damn fool being the only sober person on the lawn who was acting so un-sober. Eventually I danced and skanked and thrashed around enough that the people around me spread out and gave me some space to do my thing. I hate going to shows where the people just stand around and barely bob their heads.

After suffering through Paramore and their hoard of 12-year-old Twilight obsessed minions, my band finally came on and blew me away once again. They played a lot of "Tragic Kingdom" and "Return of Saturn" which was nice, and even played a bit of the song "Squeal" causing myself and other old-schoolers to jump around like nut-cases, (even though they didn't actually play the whole song it was just during an intermission of sorts.)

What's so great about Gwen is that she really is a style icon. I've always envied her style and her guts to wear it, with the exception of her brief stint with her Harajuku girls whilst she was going solo. She is one of the only people that can make multiple fashion faux-pas look so great. Who else can pull off a faux-hawk, crazy Rastafarian prints, ripped shirts and bra straps without all the trash and cheese? Better yet, who else can wear their own band tees and still get away with it?

Red-carpet photos: style.com

All other photos: google & the like