When No Doubt broke through with “Just a Girl” almost 30 years ago, it was instantly clear that frontwoman Gwen Stefani wasn’t “just” anything. And at a main-stage reunion Saturday night (April 13) at Coachella, Stefani proved that the band’s debut hit — and the band itself — remains as vital as ever in its third decade.
“You tell me, but I feel like this song could be more relevant now than it’s ever been,” Stefani said to intro “Just a Girl,” which includes lyrics like “I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite/ So don’t let me have any rights.”
It’s unclear how anyone could underestimate Stefani, or womankind for that matter, after seeing the display she put on Saturday along with her band – bassist Tony Kanal, drummer Adrian Young, guitarist Tom Dumont, trombonist/keyboardist Gabrial McNair and trumpeter/keyboardist Stephen Bradley – for the one hour and 20-minute set. She was constantly running the length of the stage, or prowling the catwalk into the crowd, or high-kicking the air, or climbing the scaffolding — all while maintaining the powerhouse vocals that made No Doubt’s songs cut through the noise in the mid-’90s and beyond.
While they weren’t the day 2 headliner (that was Tyler, The Creator), No Doubt treated their performance like Saturday night’s main event, offering up a history lesson of the ska music that inspired their early sound through to their Rock Steady radio domination. And their influence remains evident, especially in surprise guest Olivia Rodrigo, who had just gushed in a Nylon cover story last week that Stefani’s songs all feel like they’re “ripped from the diary of the coolest girl you know.”
Below, find our five favorite moments from No Doubt’s Coachella reunion, from Rodrigo’s cheeky cameo to the band’s heart-warming group photo.
Olivia Rodrigo Duets on One of Her Favorites
When Olivia Rodrigo was tasked with choosing her “18 favorite songs” to celebrate her 18th birthday back in 2021, No Doubt’s “Bathwater” was among her picks. Fast-forward three years, and Rodrigo — wearing a cropped white tank top that read “I [heart] ND” — popped up on the Coachella Stage for a surprise duet on the Return of Saturn single, trading verses and sharing the chorus with Stefani. The two were playful throughout the song, with Stefani saying ahead of the bridge, “Olivia Rodrigo, why do the good girls, like me and you, always want…”
“…the bad boys!” Rodrigo finished with a theatrical flourish. Stefani even called her fellow singer/songwriter over at the end of the song by calling, “Come here, my little Vampire!”
Rodrigo has had quite a streak recently of paying homage to her heroes, from Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette to Jewel and the Breeders, and this latest stop on her appreciation tour couldn’t have been a better fit.
A Ska History Lesson
No Doubt made sure to pay tribute to their ska roots throughout the show, playing non-singles from their breakout album Tragic Kingdom like “Different People” and taking to the B-stage for a first-time cover of Madness’ “One Step Beyond,” which kept the band busy as Stefani underwent a mid-set costume change. No Doubt has often pointed to the late ’70s and early ’80s British ska revivalists as inspirations behind their own early ska sound.
‘Just a Girl’ Callbacks
When Stefani dropped to the stage to do push-ups as the band played the intro of “Just a Girl,” we couldn’t help but think of Gwen also doing push-ups in the song’s 1995 music video. And when she climbed the scaffolding to initiate a call-and-response during the song (first for the men and then for the titular girls), it called to mind a similar stunt she pulls in a video from a late ’90s concert – only this time, she didn’t tell the women to yell, “F— you, I’m a girl!”
Gwen & Tony’s ‘Don’t Speak’ Slow Dance
While not rising to the tense inter-band romantic drama of a group like Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt does have its own tangled spiderweb, thanks to a pre-fame, seven-year relationship between Stefani and Kanal, which famously inspired the band’s biggest Pop Airplay hit: “Don’t Speak,” a 10-week No. 1 in 1996. But if there’s any question about lingering animosity, the cute slow dance the former couple shared during Dumont’s “Don’t Speak” guitar solo on Saturday night surely put that to rest.
A Family Photo to End the Night
The No Doubt reunion was of course a big deal for fans who hadn’t seen the band play together in almost 10 years, but it was also a big deal for the group. Once they wrapped their set with “Spiderwebs,” the six bandmates turned their backs to the crowd to face the drum kit and take a group picture with their epic Coachella crowd behind them. Like they say in their song “New,” which they also performed on Saturday, “Don’t let it go away/ This feeling has got to stay.”
They definitely want to immortalize this night forever.
No Doubt’s full Coachella setlist
Hella GoodSunday MorningEx-GirlfriendIt’s My LifeDifferent PeopleHey BabyTotal Hate ‘95Bathwater (with Olivia Rodrigo)One Step Beyond (Madness cover)Simple Kind of LifeUnderneath It AllHappy Now?NewJust a GirlDon’t SpeakSpiderwebs
