GARBAGE/NO DOUBT
Nassau Coliseum. This tour comes to the arena at the Meadowland’s Sports Complex tonight. Tickets are $37.50.
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IN the age of Britney, girl-powered rock faces more than a few challenges at maintaining credibility with an older, mixed-gender fan base.
At the Nassau Coliseum Monday, California’s No Doubt and international act Garbage met the task and succeeded.
Gwen Stefani (the frontwoman for No Doubt) and Shirley Manson (of Garbage) presented their music without gimmicks.
Each offered a bouncy, high-energy set – actually singing every note, as they interacted with the fans, rather than merely unveiling a completely prepackaged show.
If you’re unfamiliar with either of these very good singers, think: Shirley Manson is to Cyndi Lauper as Gwen Stefani is to Madonna.
Manson may be a little flighty, but there’s more substance to her songs and she is the better singer.
Still, you might not notice or even care since Stefani is so beautiful.
At Nassau, Manson wore a one-shoulder black leotard and a pink tutu. She stumbled over her own words during between-song chatter and made fun of herself for “forgetting how to speak.”
But when the music filled the big room, Manson was transformed into the consummate rock singer, from the opener of “I Think I’m Paranoid” to the band’s famous “Only Happy When It Rains,” played near the bow.
In the case of both No Doubt and Garbage, the success of the vocalists is dependent on their bands. The music each makes is propulsive, well-crafted rock, but at the Coliseum it was the ska-based punk pop of No Doubt that got the fans on their feet.
Part of what unglued the audience from their seats was ND’s signature frantic performance.
Stefani was in constant motion, girl-skipping across the stage. She took a break to do a few push-ups and then was chased around the stage at full run by the band.
You just don’t see that at every rock show.
No Doubt tapped tunes from its breakthrough album “Tragic Kingdom” through this year’s “Rock Steady.”
Still, it was the band’s tried-and-true oldie, “Just a Girl,” that was the centerpiece of the set.
This was a rare multi-act concert that offered well-matched artists who complimented each other, making this 2-for-1 performance a double treat.