Sandstone Amphitheatre
Kansas City, KS
July 13, 2000: 7:30 pm

I went with Lindsey Ibarra and Tanisha Robinson. We arrived at 5:30, went to will call, gave my name (which was on the No Doubt guestlist) and got my backstage passes. We hung out for awhile, and figured out the crap about when the meet and greet was. I saw Steve (trumpet player), just hanging outside, no one recognized him. I went up to him and introduced myself, we talked for awhile. He came out again a little later, talking on his cell phone. Here's a really quick run-down of the show, which was absolutely amazing:

~Black Eyed Peas= awesome rap (sorta reminded me of the Fugees actually) band, very talented.

~Lit= what did you expect? they did whatever they do on MTV. cute boys there. they were good.

~No Doubt= best band on the face of this earth. duh. their set list (as best as i remember, they did open w/ Ex Girlfriend, most of the songs are in order, but I totally forgot a lot of it, sorry guys) The band came onto the stage with the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey playing:

• Ex Girlfriend: Surprised me that this was the set opener. For the most part, it was done like the recording, but it sounded great.
• Sunday Morning: I kind of miss this song being the last (before the encore), it seemed strange to have it placed 2nd. It was shorter than usual, but I love this song, so I was happy to see it as one of the select few Tragic Kingdom songs to make it into the set.
• Bathwater: Truthfully, I didn't even expect them to play this one. Gwen really brought out the personal aspect with this one, even acknowledging herself on "Why do the good girls always want the bad boys?" Gwen introduced Gabe and Steve during this, for their horn solo.
• Different People: I always love this song, it get the crowd going. Of course, she did her signature "I want every f***ing person to jump on this next part. Can you do that for me here in Kansas?" Like we're going to disobey Gwen Stefani.
• Simple Kind of Life: This song always has that "Don't Speak"-ish feel to it. It's very popular on the radio right now in Kansas City. Gwen's voice was great in this one, although, throughout most of the concert, you could tell how much it's developed (even though she had a sore throat that night, I couldn't tell).
• Home Now: I really didn't expect them to play this one, and I have to say that it was a very pleasant surprise. I love this song. Another example of how great Gwen's voice is.
• Magic's In The Makeup: The audience loves this song, and they have good reason to. It was sung basically as it is on the album, with few variations..
• Happy Now?: Another one of those songs that the audience really got into. Most of the audience was singing during this one, happy for the return to Tragic Kingdom (no pun ;) Although they obviously were really into the new stuff, the fans remember the old days.
• New: I love this song. And it sounds great live. The audience cheered for this one. It was kind of the transition between Tragic Kingdom and Return of Saturn, yet it's really different than what's on either of those two albums. The audience was singing along with Gwen on this one too.
• Just A Girl: What can I say? :) It's an old favourite. This was played without the usual cussing section... Gwen did get down right in front of me, and did some push-ups (quite impressive ;) glaring at the boy in front of me. I know he liked it.
• Don't Speak: This song is just amazing. Kids, parents, punks, teeny-boppers, security, the crew, they were all singing. If someone told me that they didn't sing when this song came on the radio, I'd tell them that they were lying. Gwen's voice was just beautiful in it. Tom played his solo plugged in, rather than acoustic, which was really different.
• Open the Gate: This is the song that Kansas City voted on. I was happy to see everyone excited to hear it. It was the oldest song on the set list, and the only from The Beacon Street Collection. I'd never heard this live, I really liked it.
• Excuse Me Mr.: Nothing got people jumping like this song. The audience participation was tremendous...of course there was the audience sing along complete with cringing parents as Gwen, once again said the "f word." Gwen even completed 2 or 3 perfectly executed cart wheels. It was a great closer. I did notice that Gwen didn't introduce the band in the final song as she did during the Tragic Kingdom tour.

• Too Late: Definitely unexpected for an encore song. Definitely didn't expect it to be played at all. But hey, it was a nice surprise (and cool down).
• Spiderwebs: If No Doubt goes one show without playing this in the encore, I think there will be several thousand heart attacks. Of course they're going to play it. And we all loved it. Lit and Black Eyed Peas joined No Doubt on the stage. Everyone was messing around... the guys from Lit were playing No Doubt's instruments, random members of BEP singing into the mics. It was great. Tony has got the "playing the bass with Gwen on his back" thing down. Talented boy. I, and the rest of the audience, loved this song.

Sorry, I'm pretty sure that the songs in the middle are out of order, but that's to the best of my knowledge. I was right up in the front of the pit the entire time, so I got some great pictures. After the concert, Gwen jumped down and went across the front of the pit to shake hands. On to the backstage part...

This was actually in a tent behind Sandstone (outside theatre, the heat index was over 100 I might add...). We were told that Gwen wouldn't come out, cause she had a sore throat. Lucky for us, she had friends in the audience, and came out to meet them. So, we got autographs and pictures (she told me that my necklace was beautiful), I talked to her a bit about the fan conference, she vaguely remembered me (she may be Superwoman, but she's the human version). Tony and Steve came out, and I got pictures. I got some pictures with a couple of the members from Lit. The Black Eyed Peas also came out. Then, Steve came around again, and we talked to him for a long time about all kinds of stuff (Gadjits, Steve knows who you are.) Then he asked us how old we were. When I said I was 18, he didn't believe me, and asked for my ID. He commented on my birthday (July 4) and gave it back. We talked some more and he said "So, you wanna come back?" Holy crap, do we look stupid? Of course. The dressing room experience...

After he took us back into the dressing room area, Steve left us almost immediately, and said with a grin "If I catch you girls drinking, I'll kick you out.", and we took a right into the first room. The rooms were pretty small, this one being the largest, with just 2 couches, a vanity, a table, and a couple of small refrigerators. We got some Cokes out of the refrigerator and I sat down on the couch, just a couple people down from AJay of Lit (who was getting REALLY friendly with one of the girls). Tony was in the corner dancing with some others. Adrian and Tom popped in and out quickly throughout the night. We noticed immediately that: 1. There were only about 10-15 of us fans back there. 2. All of the fans were over 18 and female.

When we tired of that room, Tanisha (who was our voice for the night), went up to Tony and asked him if we were confined to that room, or if we could wander around. He told us to do what we wanted, so we went to the next room, across the hall. This dressing room was that of the drummer for Lit. When we got to the open door, we was standing in it, and told us "I'm not going to let you in here." When Tanisha asked why, he grinned and said tha he was just kidding. We tired of that room quickly, and heard that there was fun to be had in the next room down.

The door of this room was closed, so we let ourselves in. (This is where that totally awesome, unforgettable night part comes in.) The room was small (as before stated), with just one couch, a small table (complete with various empty liquor glasses, and Taco Bell wrappers), a couple chairs, a vanity, and another taller table. The place was packed tight, even though there were no more than 15 of us in there. Imagine walking in to a room, and this is who you see: 3 or 4 members of the Black Eyed Peas (including Kim, the only female member, who has an amazing voice), a member of Lit, Mike Heatley (the trainer), 2 or 3 other fans, Gabe, Steve, Tony (who came in and out), and Gwen. Most of them are in a circle...we soon found out that this was "the freestyle room, the freestyle room, the freestyle room, yeah the freestyle room." We soon found ourselves singing the chant along with everyone else and dancing. The job of freestyling was passed from person to person. The BEP are incredibly talented people.

Finally, Gwen was made to freestyle. She immediately went into her shy, cute little girl mode and had no idea what to do. Finally, she just started singing "the freestyle room" and we all joined it. There is nothing so amazing, as standing right next to Gwen Stefani (and I was) and hearing her beautiful voice. The the duty was passed on to Mike Heatley. He sucked, he knew it, but we all just laughed at him, and the job was passed on to various members of BEP, Steve, Gabe, and then Tony. Tony, the poor boy, can't freestyle at all, and he knew it. But he came up with something: "I appreciate all of my friends around, White, Black and Brown." Again, we all laughed at it, but we all joined in to repeat it. (Tanisha leaned over to him after this and said "Hey, nice job" and he put his arm around her and said "Thanks!" I don't know if he had caught the sarcasm, but Gwen did, and laughed at him and Tanisha.) Meanwhile, I'm trying not to explode as Gwen turns her head and smiles at me. After a few more expert freestyles from various BEP members, the job was once again placed upon Gwen's shoulders. Earlier, Kim had done a little "happy birthday" rap for Taboo. So Gwen decided just to sing "Happy Birthday" to him, in sort of a rap. Then her and Kim sang together, and it was just gorgeous. Then Kim did an ode to Gwen. She rapped about unity, how cultural differences are cool, how she loves "Gwen's people"...there were racial references, and references to Gwen's fans, and more...and it was just awesome, cause it brought everyone together. So many talented people. Steve came in, not in his right mind, we'll say, and did a hilarous rap. They tried to get the guitar player from Lit to do it, but he wouldn't do it.

Anyway, after much singing and dancing and laughing with all of these great people, the security guys came in around 1:00am (we had been in the dressing room area for over an hour, maybe an hour and a half) and told us that it was 2 minutes until they were going into overtime (meaning, that it would cost more money for them to be there any longer), and every one needed to get out. Tanisha hugged Kim and a couple of the guys from BEP, I said my goodbyes to Gwen. On the way out, I thanked Steve and Tony. We didn't take pictures in the dressing room area because I felt that it would be an invasion of privacy. They were treating us cool, like friends (not fans), we sang together and danced together, it was so freaking awesome. We finally got out of there around 1:15 am. We were the last to leave, so we ran through the parking lot just screaming. So, if you had to do one person, who would it be? Fat Bastard or a Supermodel? Definitely the supermodel. Supermodel or Gwen Stefani? Gwen Stefani!!! Yeah!!! :)

I have to thank Brandon Griggs (you rock!!) and the No Doubt International Fan Club, Lindsey and Tanisha, Black Eyed Peas, Lit, and No Doubt!