Remembering a time when Gwen Stefani and No Doubt were not household names on a national level, however, they were beloved in their local stomping grounds of Orange County. Throughout the 90’s and into the early 2000’s, Cal State Fullerton would hold free noontime shows featuring local bands or bands that were on tour and playing nighttime gigs somewhere in the local area. It was December 7, 1994 and No Doubt would go on to play the final noontime show of the school semester as finals were approaching. As Gwen was a student at Cal State Fullerton, this would go on to probably be one of her and the bands last times of being regular people. Six months after this show, No Doubt would go on to perform at the Board in Orange County to further propel them into the spotlight and then five months after that, Tragic Kingdom would be released and we all know how that turned out.
I was not only lucky to be able to attend this show, but document it as well as with a video recording that has survived all these years. As far as I know, I was the only person who recorded this show and was even approached by bootleggers willing to purchase my tape from me (yes, this was during the analog tape era). I even showed up an hour early to stake my claim to try and get the best position possible for audio and video quality.
Having seen No Doubt many times over the years, this felt like a farewell show, not in the sense of the band ending, but in the way that those of us early fans felt they were on the verge of breaking through and the world would soon know who they were. This show would go on to showcase the upcoming Tragic Kingdom songs: Sunday Morning, Sixteen, Different People, Excuse Me Mr., and the song that made it all happen, Just A Girl. These new songs were great and the right direction the band needed to go to become the stars they are today. No longer would they be playing the likes of the Icehouse in Fullerton or the Troubadour in LA, but arena tours and to become role models where every girl wanted to be Gwen. To this day, I still get contacted from fans who were crowd surfing or were at this show, thanking me for having a copy of such a fun show and time from our youth. Hopefully the newer generation will appreciate our 90s music as many still appreciate the 80s.
Setlist:
1. Move On
2. Sunday Morning
3. Sinking
4. Sixteen
5. Different People
6. Just A Girl
7. ABC…XYZ
8. Paulina
9. Let’s Get Back
10. Heartbreaker (Pat Benatar cover)
11. You Can Do It
12. Trapped In A Box
13. Excuse Me Mr.
14. Brand New Day
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