Matt the Great

Every day after a No Doubt concert, my away message is generally, "Gwen Stefani has more cool in her little finger than I'll have in my whole life." I always end up arriving at depression by way of jealousy when I think of just how rad she is, and how rad I will never be. Jaclyn, Gwen, and I were at MSG this Tuesday night. Boy, she is uncontrollably sexy. Gwen, not Jaclyn. Jaclyn has a great personality though.

The concert was ridiculous and big (her very special guests, the Black Eyed Peas, had very special guests of their own, James Brown and Justin Timberlake). One of the hottest parts of the night, no doubt, was that Gwen sang through the whole damn thing (no surprise). She was there with her Harajuku Girls. I went in thinking the concert would be over-the-top exploitative of Japan, but I don't think any Harajukan would mind. Not that a Harajukan would care anyway; this, from teaMMatt's Japanese Culture Correspondent Val, a self-described "non-fluent foreigner that teaches teenagers but doesn't spend 24/7 with them":

Some of Gwen's hotter moments included a hot, hot 1950s bikini in red, a flowy Monroe gown for "Cool," and, well, any other time she was onstage. She was doing some badass dancing in bigass high heels. I asked Jaclyn--I guess she's my Female Issues Expert--if that is hard to do, and for perspective, she offered that she can't even walk in heels.

Jaclyn and I, both No Doubt purists, were happy with Gwen in her typical presence; she's awkard, her dancing's a little geeky, we were scared of her in punk and attracted to her in glam. We went to be dutiful, but came out thinking the night was so hella good. The album's rad, and I've known that for a year, but when you put a high-heeled Gwen in a majorette uniform and watch her jump, you suddenly get "Hollaback Girl." Favorite songs of the night: "Crash" (MTG did not holla "back it up, back it up" when she requested that of her New York City Boys. Nor did Jaclyn holla, "you got it, you got it," as was asked of Gwen's New York City Girls.), "The Real Thing" for being so 80s tuff, and the un-released "Candyland."

Kevin, who describes the night as "the 180-degree opposite of sucking," belives Ms. Stefani to be "literally an icon for the ages. One or two more albums and she'll be the biggest star in the world." And this should have us wondering, "what about Madonna?" Again, Kevin, who we'll call teaMMatt's Gwen Field Reporter, offers, "she's the new Madonna. Flippin' genius."

<--Girl, not Hollaback

Girl, Material-->

He might have a point. The NYT reviewed "Harajuku Lovers Tour," And Madonna is mentioned in sentences 2 and 3. Later, the Stef' (it's gonna catch on--no doubt) is referred to as, "a material girl strutting to the beats and keeping any ironies to heself."

Fischer, who is teaMMatt's Head Correspondent for the Gwen/Madonna Conflict, brought this quote to teaMMatt a while ago:

Now Madonna will never really offend me because she is Madonna, but for real, that shit is just a little too bananas.

Days later, Fischer found this in USA Today:

And as he pointed out, there is peace in the valley. Good thing he bothered to glance at his USA Today before he re-lined his birdcage or whatever it was he was doing with a USA Today.

Now to close, I'd like to share my favorite-ever Gwen Stefani Live quote. It comes from No Doubt concert #1 at Roseland: