No Doubt launched their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas with a vibrant opening performance last night.
Much of the set felt like a trip back in time, with ‘90s nostalgia ramped up from the beginning. That vibe was evident even before the show began, as attendees were greeted with a collage of classic images and video clips plastered around the venue’s massive screen.
The Vegas shows come after No Doubt’s breakthrough album, Tragic Kingdom, celebrated its 30th anniversary in October. The LP proved to be the backbone of the band’s Sphere set, a motif established with a pre-recorded message from Gwen Stefani that started the show:
“Vegas, you got your seatbelts on? Because I’m about to tell you a little story. Once upon a time in a land 254 miles away, where oranges grow on every tree, some kids found each other and began making some music in the shadow of the Tragic Kingdom. This is our story.”
No Doubt Turns the Sphere Into Their ‘Tragic Kingdom’
Appropriately, the band began their Sphere show with the Tragic Kingdom’s title track, their first time performing the tune in over 15 years. As you can see in the video below from maninapurpledress, the Sphere audience was taken through a twisted theme park, complete with giant castle and an assortment of rides named after some of the band’s biggest hits.
Tragic Kingdom material certainly dominated the night, with nearly half of the set list — including “Spiderwebs,” “Don’t Speak” and “Excuse Me Mr.” — being culled from No Doubt’s landmark 1995 album. The band also dug into some of the LP’s deeper cuts, performing “The Climb” for the first time since 1997.
Visuals will always the a big part of any Sphere event, and No Doubt was sure to emphasize color, vibrance and their distinctive personality during many of the tunes. “Hella Good” had everyone in the venue jumping, while yellow televisions and a giant megaphone bounced upon the screen. During their cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” No Doubt plastered the Sphere’s wall with yearbook photos from each of the band’s members, yet another trip down memory lane during the nostalgia-heavy performance.
READ MORE: Top 100 ’90s Rock Albums
While many Sphere acts tend to tone down their stage antics in order to let the visuals shine, singer Stefani delivered a high-octane performance from beginning to end. The frontwoman continually danced and leaped across the checkerboard stage, displaying a seemingly endless amount of energy.
She also made sure to involve the fans, as you can see in the video from Front Row Vegas below. During the night’s penultimate number, “Just a Girl,” Stefani plucked several excited young female fans from the crowd to sing with her onstage. The song served as a triumphant highlight, and alluded to a little history: With Stefani at the helm, No Doubt became the first female-fronted act to headline the Sphere.
Full set list and a selection of videos from the show can be found below.
When Did No Doubt Start Planning Their Sphere Show?
The performance marked No Doubt’s first full concert since their much celebrated reunion at Coachella in 2024. In interviews leading up to the Sphere show, No Doubt’s members admitted that the success of their Coachella gigs directly impacted the Sphere residency.
“[Coachella] was incredible,” Stefani recalled during a conversation with Los Angeles radio show Booker and Stryker. “So, I think we all wanted to do something, but it felt like it was going to be a little bit – I don’t know. Anything else would have been going back or not cool, you know what I mean? It would never touch what we just did. So, what could it be? And then we talked about doing the Sphere because it’s so different. And that was something we had been throwing around for a couple of years, cuz time goes quick. And then all of a sudden here we are.”
The Sphere show also notably marked No Doubt’s first performance since guitarist Tom Dumont announced his battle with Parkinson’s disease.
No Doubt, May 16, Sphere Las Vegas Set List:
1. “Tragic Kingdom”
2. “Excuse Me Mr.”
3. “Different People”
4. “Total Hate ’95”
5. “Spiderwebs”
6. “Underneath It All”
7. “Hey Baby”
8. “Bathwater”
9. “Ex-Girlfriend”
10. “Happy Now?”
11. “Hella Good”
12. “The Climb”
13. “Running”
14. “It’s My Life”
15. “Simple Kind of Life”
16. “Don’t Speak”
17. “Trapped in a Box”
18. “New”
19. “End It on This”
20. “Just a Girl”
21. “Sunday Morning”
