August 2, 2009
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This past night, I was at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Irvine, CA, to see "No Doubt" in concert, with "Paramore," and "The Sounds" as the opening acts. I haven't seen The Sounds before, although I have heard a few of their albums, so I'm curious to see how they are live. "Paramore" I've seen several times, and while I've enjoyed their live set every single time, I was more looking forward to them playing their new songs. Now as for "No Doubt," I have seen them once a long time ago (I believe it was a decade ago), in a much smaller venue in San Diego (I think it was UCSD). I wanted to see them live again, and here was my chance.
I consider myself more or less a "veteran" to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (formally known as Irvine Meadows), so I knew how late I can leave home to get there on time, I knew the parking system (free parking this time), I knew the best "hidden" men's restroom to go to, and I knew what to expect in terms of my viewing angle to the stage. Now my seat wasn't that close to the stage, nor was it that far from it either, however I already knew that I would have a little more work in terms of capturing any of the performances on video (worried more about the tall people in front of me). Luckily I was sitting at the very end of my aisle, which gave me a little more leeway to move a little bit to the side for a better view.
As it usually is the case, I did go by myself to this concert, but the pretty blonde girl next to me actually sparked up a conversation. At first it was about the digital camera I was using and the photos/videos I was taking, then it was about the concerts we've been to (she was also at this year's Warped Tour Pomona it seems). Then it was talk about backstage accesses in concerts, to knowing someone who knows someone in the music industry, and what not. I definitely enjoyed her company while enjoying the concert, and I got to give her kudos for saying "I saw Meg & Dia for the first time at that Warped Tour, and they were really good." Nice. One humorous moment however was when one of the security people practically wanted to kick us out of our seats (checked our tickets and all), because we were moving around so much to the music, that we were "overflowing" from our row of seats to the middle aisle (which he wanted completely cleared). Guy was doing his job sure, but he didn't have to act and talk like a dick.
All the acts pretty much started and ended on time, which surprised me a bit since that doesn't always happen in concerts. The first opener was "The Sounds," and they had this new wave music going for them, which I loved but did not necessarily think would work with this Orange County crowd that was in attendance. I would say that 95% of the audience didn't even know who they were (pretty blonde girl next to me knew who they were though), so only a few of us were really enjoying their set. Singer Maja Ivarsson had a great presence on stage (plus, nice legs), and I really liked the bands overall performance as well.
The second opening act was "Paramore," and as they have always proven time and time again, they are a GREAT live band. This time, the majority of the audience was in full support of the band, singing and moving along with Paramore. Even though I've seen them several times already, it still surprises me how lively this band is on stage, with Hayley Williams as a fantastic front woman able to get the crowd going, to the little synchronize headbanging that I see once in awhile, and even flips in the air by one of their guitarists. They did play two new songs ("Ignorance" and "Where the lines overlap") off their upcoming new album, and of course they finished their set playing "Decode" from the movie soundtrack of "Twilight." Paramore is just awesome through and through.
"No Doubt" had an hour and forty-five minutes set, starting with one of their most popular songs "Spiderwebs." Actually just about all their songs are well known hits, so the audience was singing along a lot throughout their whole set. That's the kind of thing a band really appreciates. I like their stage setup, that has several ramps that lead to drummer Adrian Young in the middle. Gwen Stefani is still very much a really great front woman, and worked the crowd a lot. I liked how Gwen interacted with who are clearly the die hard fans located in the pit at front of the stage. At one point, a fan gives her a set of dolls (looked like the band I believe), which prompted Gwen to tell the guy to hop on stage so that they can get a picture together. Later on she takes another photo in front of those fans up front, which really showed how much the band appreciated their following. For those keeping tabs, Gwen did four costume changes. Later on for their encore, they played their newest song "Stand and Deliver," and even got vocal help from Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds. Since the members of No Doubt are mostly from Orange County, CA, there was definitely a lot of love that the band and the audience were sharing with each other. This is the band and the main majority of the audience's home turf after all, and it showed.
As soon as No Doubt's last song played, I was on a mission to get out of the parking lot as soon as possible. The parking lot for Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is notorious for keeping you in it much longer than you'd like, because of the traffic bottle neck that the exit represents. I walked as fast as I could, and then when I was out the door, I ran as fast as I could, and did a beeline for my car. I parked backwards in (of course) so I immediately left my parking spot with no hassle, and went straight for the exit, which took no more than five minutes tops. I could already see the cars piling up at the moment I left the parking lot, and I could only imagine that if I stayed a few more minutes longer, I would have been stuck. This was a nice night to go see a concert, and a great way to top off my weekend.
*click here for the photos I took *
*click here for the videos I took *
