FRIDAY, JUNE 22-Gwen Stefani at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

The most overtly charming front person of her generation, Anaheim’s Gwen Stefani channels of-the-moment pop culture like prime-time Madonna while wisely entrusting her fragile vocals to robust co-writers and producers (including the Neptunes and her No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal on last year’s The Sweet Escape). Stefani’s live shows are as consistent as her ringtone-pop solo albums are patchy: Her oddly sweat-free energy and parade of moves and fashion statements are amplified by cartoonish Harajuku girls and hip-again breakdancers into something clearly choreographed yet oddly absorbing. Stefani’s mass appeal lies in her being at once otherworldly (even the pore-close big screens reveal nothing but a living doll) and almost nerdy (fantasizing about “selling makeup at the mall” and “making out to Purple Rain”). Shame she seems to be in a song-share scheme with the similarly ubiquitous Fergie.
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