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Was it Gwen Stefani's album or her clothing line that she was on tour promoting? With no less than seven costume changes over the course of the 90 minute extravaganza, it was often as if the audience was watching a L.A.M.B. fashion show. But add to that a color drenched edible-looking light-up stage, thousands of bubbles, a group of super-caffeinated back-up dancers, and a singular hyped-up blonde frontwoman and what you've got is one of the most deliciously fun concert experiences to ever hit an arena stage.
Well, for girls at least. Because even though the boys in the audience seemed to enjoy themselves as well, it was the ladies who bought most of the seats and for whom the show was built (like a giant Hello Kitty shop come to life). Nonetheless, it was Gwen who was the girl of the night, and she more than proved why her star has ascended to such astronomical heights. She plowed through every single song on Love.Angel.Music.Baby. with insurmountable energy, never seeming to slow down enough to catch her breath (and now we know she was preggers at the time of the show). Showing off her amazing legs in a red 50's style swimsuit during "The Real Thing" or her Alice in Wonderland get-up for "Harajuku Girls", these incarnations were no match for when she slipped off the platforms and into sneakers. Gwen is at her best when she is indulging her inner tomboy, running around the stage and acting girly-tough as she did for "Crash" and "Serious".
And let's not forget openers the Black Eyed Peas. With only about a half an hour of stage time alloted to them, they proved to have exceptional time-management skills as they squeezed in as many of their hits as possible ("Let's Get Retarded", "My Humps", "Hey, Mama") while having their crew of break-dancers
bust out some moves in between songs. They deserve a party of their own, which they promised 2006 would bring.
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