Music

No Doubt
Sphere
Las Vegas, Nevada
15 May and 10, 12, 13 June 2026

What an incredible run of shows.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen No Doubt on stage. Perhaps ironically, it was when they opened for U2 in Las Vegas during the Elevation tour.

U2 opened Sphere; the first band, the first event ever at Sphere. They set the bar high with a show that intentionally experimented with the theatrical possibilities of the show.

The next act I saw at Sphere was Kenny Chesney. He’s a solid performer, but his Sphere production was what I had feared all Sphere shows would become: an unwavering emphasis on visual vomit splashed across the giant 16K screen throughout the show.

But No Doubt? Superb. The band’s on fire and full of energy. Stunning visuals. Nice taste for the theatrical. Even foam oranges drop from the top of the Sphere.

I was so thrilled, so happy after seeing them on 15 May, I hopped on general admission tickets for each of their last three shows of their Sphere run of 18 shows.

Olivia Rodrigo

The final night, 13 June, was jam-packed with humanity. In the suites was Blake Shelton. Some people on the floor were excited. Many were... less so. I am among those who think Gwen could – and should – trade up. (Wink wink.)

The floor was wall-to-wall with fans, heavy on VIP tickets (VIP in this case means “Very Impressive Price” with those packages running around $800 compared to the standard ticket of rougly $220. But, the VIPs get on the floor first.

Throughout the run, Gwen pulled fans on stage throughout the show, typically during three points in the performance. A lot of fans. Typically on the order of around a dozen or so. That was part of the amazement of these shows. Gwen seemed obsessively fixated on the fans, fully and wholly acknowledging without the fans, the band wouldn’t be on the stage. Her thanks sounded very much like those of Bono when he acknowledges the significance of U2’s fans.

For each of the four shows I saw, I wound up in the exact same spot on the floor, off the rail on Tom’s end of the stage. It wasn’t the plan, just how it worked out with the great equalizers of security lines and VIP attendees essentially pushing me to the same spot each time. (For the last three shows, a loosely organized fan-run line with sequential numbering marked on the hand in magic marker put me in the 30s each time. Keep in mind, it was blazing hot in triple-digit heat, but some of the lower numbers were out there all day.)

But. Yeah. Olivia.

Keep in mind, I know who Olivia is. I know of her and her music. I know about the ”idea“ that is Olivia Rodrigo.

But, at that moment, I would not have been able to identify her in a lineup at the police station.

So, I’m in “my spot” when, toward the end of the show, I get splashed by a plastic beverage cup thrown to the front of the floor. Security immediately sprung into action.

But why? Was it to find the hooligan?

In retrospect, I doubt they even knew the beer cup had been thrown.

They were flashing their pen flash lights and they were taking a really long time if their efforts were to squelch a rowdy guest.

Then, only a couple people behind me, I see this tiny little girl in a yellow T-shirt and a No Doubt baseball cap scooching side-step-by-side-step through the crowd. She’s smiling. She seems to be obediently following security’s direction. But, in my headspace, I thought they were merely helping her step away from a rowdy, beer-throwing group.

She was – yep – “just a girl” holding a poster in hopes of catching Gwen’s attention and be invited on stage. For four evenings I was surrounded by girls in T-shirts and No Doubt caps clenching ornately decorated posters. Why the heck would I take my phone camera off of Gwen? Pooh! If only I had this time! Looking at her face (and, again, not being able to ID her in a lineup), I saw an earnestness and – gosh – an innocence about her that was disarming.

And so it is Gwen starts her stroll across the stage to invite the last group of “super fans” on stage. But this time was different. She noted all the signs and how she couldn’t decide who to call on stage. But those security flashlights flashed at Gwen to direct her down to the end of the stage.

And that light was directed at this innocent-looking girl’s poster.

Gwen reads it and invites her on stage, with the typical flurry of security helping direct the crowd so the fan can get on stage.

Of course this little girl is excited. And when Gwen gets a load of her, she says she looks like Olivia Rodrigo.

I assumed she was joking. She was flattering this little girl.

But.

Nope.

It really was Olivia Rodrigo!

I’ve referred to her as a “little girl” a couple times now. I mean zero offense by that. It’s merely a shortcut in describing how unassuming she was while on the floor. She was not acting entitled. She seemed like nothing more than another fan trying to do the right thing on the floor and (shocker!) behave. (Yeah, I was around some not-so-good people on that floor a couple times.)

It was clearly a staged event. It was hardly a surprise to Gwen, but she tried to sharpen her acting chops during this moment. It was, however, a masterful work of crowd control and staging. To essentially squeeze Olivia into that crowd on the floor was quite a feat. I didn’t want to leave my spot to go to the restroom or get a beverage or check out the merch or do anything. I was planted there because I did not want to contend with working my way back through the crowd.

But the seemingly unlikely end result of all of it was this: I became a fan of Olivia Rodrigo. She truly impressed me in that seemingly simple and innocent moment of fan connection between her and Gwen. While Gwen was acting surprised, there was “no doubt” whatsoever Olivia was beyond excited to be there. I described her as a “little girl” girl, yes. But put her on stage and she’s got presence, the kind that can stand toe-to-toe with Gwen.

On the flip side, I was standing next to another (tiny) girl (actually, a petite mother of four) who was also a super fan, but her poster was confiscated by security before heading onto the floor. Many posters were thrown away and yet so many posters still made it onto the floor.

Some were told no posters were being allowed on the floor this time because the concert was being filmed. Sure enough, there was a bank of cameras at the far end of the floor. It’d be great to see a video released. U2 filmed their show for a Sphere movie experience. They also had drones zipping around to capture the immersiveness of it all. But, so far, I’m not aware of any of Sphere’s acts so far having released a full Sphere concert video for home viewing.