No Doubt Rock Steady

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale attend the men’s final at the U.S. Open tennis championship in New York, September 14th.

Happy 7th wedding anniversary to Gwen and Gavin. All the best from justnodoubt.net and our visitors!

Two of pop music’s brightest stars – Gwen Stefani and Chris Martin – will take the stage during the 2009 Bridge School Benefit concerts at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. Stefani will perform with her platinum-selling band No Doubt, which recently came through the Bay Area on a highly successful reunion tour, while Martin will leave his mates in Coldplay behind to play rare solo sets.

The concerts are set for 5 p.m. Oct. 24 and 2 p.m. Oct. 25. Tickets are $39.50-$150 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday Sept. 20 through 877-598-6659 and www.livenation.com.

Other top names scheduled to perform at both concerts include pop-rocker Sheryl Crow, indie-folk act Fleet Foxes, Australian hard-rockers Wolfmother, alt-rock icon Gavin Rossdale (Stefani’s husband) and, of course, the event’s organizer, Neil Young. The Monsters of Folk, the indie-pop dream team of Conor Oberst, Yim Yames, M Ward and Mike Mogis, will also appear on both days.

Each concert, however, boosts individual appeal. Notably, Parrotheads will want to purchase tickets for Saturday’s affair, which is when their leader, Jimmy Buffett, will make his long-awaited Bridge School debut. On Sunday, Buffett’s spot will be filled by popular comedian Adam Sandler, who recently starred in the Judd Apatow-directed film “Funny People.” Sandler is best known for such films as “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” but he’s also a platinum-selling recording artist.

In all, the lineup should be taken as a breath of fresh air by Bridge regulars, who have long complained that Young relies too heavily on the same cast of performers, such as Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews. Of all the acts on the bill, only Crow and Young have performed at past Bridge benefits. That number could change, however, since Young commonly adds more acts to the lineup as the dates draw closer.

These concerts are fundraisers for Hillsborough’s Bridge School, which aids students with severe learning disabilities.

Gwen Stefani watches Novak Djokovic play Roger Federer during the US Open semifinals, September 13th.

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale join Roger Federer and his wife for dinner in NYC, September 10th.

‘Pop’ relaunch party, September 11th.

Remember last season’s fashion week, when everything was doom and gloom and designers sent what looked like funeral gowns — everything but the veil — down the runway? Well, yeah, the fashion press is still talking about The End of the Fashion Industry and shoppers are about as confident as a couple of kids at a middle school dance. Still, maybe it’s the effort that counts. For her part, Gwen Stefani was definitely trying to lighten things up with the presentation of her clothing line, L.A.M.B., at Milk Studios on Thursday.

The whole ’80s vibe was pounded pretty hard into everyone’s heads with some of the stupider moments of that decade (*cough* Africa by Toto *cough*) blasting through loudspeakers…

The models came out with their hair done up in big pompadours wearing oversized t-shirts hanging off of one shoulder, big ass shoulder pads, and even bigger stilettos. Yeah there was some black, but it was sexy black, not someone-just-died black. Stefani appeared with her own big pompadour and electric blue eyeliner. Everyone cheered and Stefani gave a small grin.

“People are concerned about price points, but you can’t stifle creativity,” Stefani’s publicist Paul Wilmot said.

Fine. Whatever. But it’s sort of true. L.A.M.B. is almost senselessly retro. In her clothing, Stefani doesn’t give a shit about anything: what other designers are doing, what trends are big right now, the deep melancholy pervading in the industry, certainly not reporters, not even motherhood.

“The only thing parenting has to do with my collection is that the babies aren’t in my stomach anymore,” she said, entirely slate-faced. Reporters and cameraman bombarded Stefani and she fixed her gaze into an emotionless stare.

Finally, when some poor assistant brought out her two children Kingston, 3, and Zuma, 1, (they’ve both got the beginnings of blonde pompadours too!), she can’t contain the happiness on her face, becoming just about as energetic as her clothing. This fashion week might be as sober as the last one — well, not if you’re a Voice correspondent — but L.A.M.B. was definitely a sunburst of excitement.

Fashionrules got a chance to converse with Gwen Stefani – rock star and LAMB designer – backstage at the Milk Studios before her Thursday afternoon presentation. Here’s what the fabulous and stylish Ms. Gwen had to tell us about her spring collection. – Merle Ginsberg

FASHION RULES: I love your grey motorcycle jacket. Is that the feeling of LAMB spring 2010?

GWEN STEFANI: Absolutely! Wait till you see it in white! You know, I’ve been on tour for the last four and half months, and did this collection while I was on tour. Not only that, LAMB just changed companies that we work with, so this collection was the beginning of a new collaboration – it was a very big deal for us. I was feeling Africa, and wanted to give a nod to the eighties – but I also wanted to make clothes that were easy, comfortable and wearable. A lot of those really chic European collections just wouldn’t work for the kind of life we live in Los Angeles. I like extreme clothes for events, but for everyday, I like to keep it more simple.

FASHION RULES: How does L.A. fit into your designs and collections?

GWEN STEFANI: Well, I just moved houses, and I was so into the design of the new house that I was inspired by that – by L.A.’s architecture. And I do all of the designing on my collection from my L.A. house. Plus, I always go to Palace Costume – that’s where I get a lot of inspiration!

FASHION RULES: There’s a lot of eighties styling here – leggings, plaid, grunge, punk, New Wave. Were you crazy into that, growing up in Orange County?

GWEN STEFANI: It’s funny. At that time, I was more into Ska and reggae. I was more ska and mod. I was even dressing kind of ska and mod – so this is really my first time getting into the eighties – it’s kinda new to me! It’s weird the way it all comes back around.

FASHION RULES: Who helped you style this show?

GWEN STEFANI: My friend Paula Bradley.

FASHION RULES: Are your kids going to come?

GWEN STEFANI: Kingston won’t last through it – and he’s too young to like crowds! It’s probably better if they don’t come!

FASHION RULES: Who did the hair and makeup?

GWEN STEFANI: Danilo did the hair – he’s been doing my hair for years, and he’s an absolute genius. He just reads my mind. Donald Simrock did the makeup for MAC – I love the really blue winged eyeliner!

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale step out of their NYC hotel, September 11th.