REVIEW:Shoreline goes ga-ga over Gwen
By Marian Liu
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 3:51
am in Celebrities, Music, Marian Liu, General, live music.
For a good time, go to Gwen Stefani.
Her concert was a playful performance for a packed audience. Many of her fans, out Tuesday night at Shoreline Amphitheatre, were mothers and daughters out for a bonding experience. The 37-year-old appealed to both generations. She is also a mother and tours with her 1-year-old son Kingston. Plus, Stefani has this dorky charm - a goofy, gawky, tomboy appeal that secures her stage presence without the diva demands. People are drawn to her - girls want to be her and guys want to hang out with her.
And she had fun at her own concert – a simple feat a lot of artists fail at. A lot of times these big arena shows feel routine, a robotic tribute to cash out on the album. But, Stefani was out there - grabbing a fan’s purse to sign, running through the crowd singing and gabbing with the fans about how she spent her day.
“When is it going to hit me that this is real?” she asked the audience about her popularity.
(Click below for more on her concert, the Harajuku Girls and Akon…)
For close to two hours, Stefani pulled from her two albums: “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.” and “The Sweet Escape.” The set list alone displayed her pop prowess: “Rich Girl,” “Hollaback Girl,” “Cool” and “Wind It Up,” then encoring with “What You Waiting For.” I only wish she sang her oldie but goodies from “Tragic Kingdom” from the No Doubt days, like “Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs” or “Don’t Speak.”
Stefani also whizzed through several outfits – all cut with a sense of humor like a wife beater worn with a kimono hacked down to only its midsection or the tiny chef hat that sat askew on her head.
She has a love for the wacky – adapting musical staples “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof to “Rich Girl” and “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music to “Wind It Up.” I got used to these conversions, however sacrilegious they might be, but I still cringe at the Harajuku Girls. During Stefani’s song “Luxurious,” these four were in kimono robes mirroring geisha girls, dancing with fans and umbrellas, around the male dancers in suits. Is this a homage or an appropriation?
Another possibly politically incorrect point was opener Akon, but he behaved. He has been in the news lately for humping one fan and throwing another. The most hurtful thing didn’t come from him, but a fan at the food lines, saying she would rather wait out his set than be thrown.
Akon does parallel Stefani’s knack for hits though, singing his chart toppers like “Soul Survivor,” “Spank That” and “Lonely.” His personality, however, was not as likeable as Stefani’s. His songs might bang in the clubs but he is neither the R&B loverboy nor the gangsta rapper – neither soft nor hard enough, just somewhere in the middle. And Akon’s best line was asking the audience over and over where they are from.
Both Akon and Stefani have songs that creep themselves into your consciousness with their nonsensical sayings. Their hits don’t exactly inspire you to compose, and can be initially annoying, but by the third time on the radio, you’ll catch yourself screaming “B-A-N-A-N-A-S” or “SMACK THAT” on your commute.
It’s simply fun.
source
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 3:51
am in Celebrities, Music, Marian Liu, General, live music.
For a good time, go to Gwen Stefani.
Her concert was a playful performance for a packed audience. Many of her fans, out Tuesday night at Shoreline Amphitheatre, were mothers and daughters out for a bonding experience. The 37-year-old appealed to both generations. She is also a mother and tours with her 1-year-old son Kingston. Plus, Stefani has this dorky charm - a goofy, gawky, tomboy appeal that secures her stage presence without the diva demands. People are drawn to her - girls want to be her and guys want to hang out with her.
And she had fun at her own concert – a simple feat a lot of artists fail at. A lot of times these big arena shows feel routine, a robotic tribute to cash out on the album. But, Stefani was out there - grabbing a fan’s purse to sign, running through the crowd singing and gabbing with the fans about how she spent her day.
“When is it going to hit me that this is real?” she asked the audience about her popularity.
(Click below for more on her concert, the Harajuku Girls and Akon…)
For close to two hours, Stefani pulled from her two albums: “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.” and “The Sweet Escape.” The set list alone displayed her pop prowess: “Rich Girl,” “Hollaback Girl,” “Cool” and “Wind It Up,” then encoring with “What You Waiting For.” I only wish she sang her oldie but goodies from “Tragic Kingdom” from the No Doubt days, like “Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs” or “Don’t Speak.”
Stefani also whizzed through several outfits – all cut with a sense of humor like a wife beater worn with a kimono hacked down to only its midsection or the tiny chef hat that sat askew on her head.
She has a love for the wacky – adapting musical staples “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof to “Rich Girl” and “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music to “Wind It Up.” I got used to these conversions, however sacrilegious they might be, but I still cringe at the Harajuku Girls. During Stefani’s song “Luxurious,” these four were in kimono robes mirroring geisha girls, dancing with fans and umbrellas, around the male dancers in suits. Is this a homage or an appropriation?
Another possibly politically incorrect point was opener Akon, but he behaved. He has been in the news lately for humping one fan and throwing another. The most hurtful thing didn’t come from him, but a fan at the food lines, saying she would rather wait out his set than be thrown.
Akon does parallel Stefani’s knack for hits though, singing his chart toppers like “Soul Survivor,” “Spank That” and “Lonely.” His personality, however, was not as likeable as Stefani’s. His songs might bang in the clubs but he is neither the R&B loverboy nor the gangsta rapper – neither soft nor hard enough, just somewhere in the middle. And Akon’s best line was asking the audience over and over where they are from.
Both Akon and Stefani have songs that creep themselves into your consciousness with their nonsensical sayings. Their hits don’t exactly inspire you to compose, and can be initially annoying, but by the third time on the radio, you’ll catch yourself screaming “B-A-N-A-N-A-S” or “SMACK THAT” on your commute.
It’s simply fun.
source
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