Friday, August 7, 2009

No Doubt & Panic At The Disco @ The New Joint



Many, many years ago a band played the Coogee Bay Hotel, supported by Unwritten Law and The Porkers. Who were these nobodies? How did they get a headlining gig over two great bands? I'm not going in to see them! 10 years later I saw this band - No Doubt - and kicked myself for not seeing them sooner.

Amy and I got in early, after a great dinner at Paymons, to see Panic At The Disco. I knew of one song and considering the price of the ticket ($130) thought I'd get my money's worth with both bands. Panic At The Disco were easily forgettable for me - but as usual the youngsters enjoyed them. Their last song "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies" was a redeeming feature of the set.

Panic! at the Disco Setlist The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, USA 2009


From the start No Doubt were on fire! From behind a white curtain, No Doubt strolled out to much fanfare and applause and instantly raised the energy level inside the Joint. I'm not a huge fan of the music on CD, but live, Gwen Stefani brings a new dimension with stage presence which you can't help but be drawn to. Hella Good was the song I wanted to hear most - and they played it 2nd - and it was beyond great. If they'd played that continuously all night, I'd have to have been taken out on a stretcher. What also makes their performance great is their love of their fans. Twice she pulled fans onto the stage, read signs made by the crowd, took a scrapbook gift from a fan and kept the banter going all night. The rest of the band all have a skill and showmanship that outweighs a lot of bands I've seen, but it is just so hard not to watch Gwen. She is simply the greatest front woman I've seen. Who else in the world can make the men in the room sing "I'm just a girl in the world"?
Imagine how good they probably were at Selinas all those years ago. That was a bad decision that I rectified with Amy at the Joint. Will definitely make the effort to catch them again.

No Doubt Setlist The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, USA, Summer Tour 2009


The Crap Facts:
This is my 288th concert.
This is my 3rd concert at The New Joint.
This is my 87th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 87th concert in Nevada.
This is my 96th concert in the USA.
Panic At The Disco are the 358th band I've seen.
No Doubt are the 359th band I've seen.

1 comment:

  1. You just like Gwen because your wife does!!!!! I do remember many conversations about this while we were out in Las Vegas. Do you remember why Amy likes Gwen so much?

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