It was a blend of the older young, the younger old, and the just plain young Wednesday night at the No Doubt concert at a packed Xcel Energy Center.

Any band with a hint of originality brings along solid, quality opening bands. No Doubt held up its Cali ska punk cred by having Boot Charlotte and The Distillers open. They rocked the crowd and set up an expectant atmosphere for the arrival of what some could call the Gwen Stefani Show.

But while Stefani is a modern pop icon, the accompanying band cannot be discounted as some kind of backup band. The band is able and diverse in their music, and most notably they are original. No Doubt put on a show devoid of pretension and full of personality.

Anyone doubting the band's significance just needs to listen to No Doubt's newest effort, "Rock Steady." The music that Stefani glides to is just as fun as she is. Dressed in her signature halter top, with her long, blond hair done up in a long ponytail, she epitomized women who rock as she performed modern and old No Doubt hits.

As the lights went down for the No Doubt performance, the crowd went nuts. The stage, while large, did not look as if it had a formidable live show waiting within its bowels. But then the band rose from the depths of the stage and put on a blazing performance of "Hella Good" from their latest album.

Stefani gyrated and grooved seductively to many hits, and while that was a sight to see, the quality and grooves of the music overshadowed any of Stefani's display. No Doubt had the crowd jumping from the first song to the last. The band took a slightly cheesy acoustic break, which was accompanied by a Springsteen-esque montage of pictures of the band on the giant screen.

Xcel was packed with girls of all ages. Shrugging off the $40 ticket price, fans like Brianna Marquart of St.Paul were there to make sure they enjoyed themselves. "You can't beat the man," Marquart said. "You got to pay the money."

Musically, the band was a fond reminder of the powerful mid-'90s California ska-punk scene, which also spurred bands like Sublime and 311. The band's savvy blend of pop punk and ska was a reminder of the sunny, easy grooves of Brad Nowell's Sublime. The band seemed real, and the music was effortless.

Despite high prices and an arena forum, No Doubt was just as down to earth as if they were playing the 400 Bar in Minneapolis.

And the audience could tell.