Paramore Touring With No Doubt!!

I am not okay with this. I really like Paramore but Gwen Stefani causes me to have very violent thoughts. I'd really like to punch her in the head.

Sell-out is a term that people use a lot when their favorite non-mainstream bands make it onto the radio or MTV or whatever and I avoid using it. I don't think there is anything wrong with making a living doing what you love. But changing what you love to make money.... that is when I apply the term sell-out. And I can't think of too many people I apply it to. In fact, at this very moment, Gwen Stefani is the only person I can think of.

A long time ago, No Doubt was approached by their record label execs/agent/producers who said "Ska is no longer 'in,' hip hop is what is 'in' now. We think you should try to sound more like that. Hip hop will make you a lot more money." The band said no, Gwen said Hell yes and the Orange County sound that was so fabulous on Tragic Kingdom was dismissed like yesterday's garbage.

I am a big fan of both No Doubt and Paramore, so of course I was ecstatic when I found out they were touring together! I've also been a fan of ND since I was younger (about 1996), so when they went on a hiatus, I was devastated! Then, Paramore arrived just in time.

Yes, their fan bases are a bit different, age-wise, but I also think it was a great way to expose No Doubt to the younger crowd and Paramore to the some-what older crowd. Paramore is still very young, and you can sense it in their music. But you can also tell that their skills improve more and more with each album.

I had the pleasure of going to one of the concerts, and it was hands-down the best concert I've been to so far.

PS: I don't think Gwen sold-out when she went solo. There's nothing wrong with wanting to branch out and do something different for a while. Otherwise, you'll be stuck in a rut. You could already tell that she had an interest in "dance" type music when she wrote "Hey Baby" and "Hella Good" for "Rock Steady", and when she collaborated with Moby, Eve, and Pharrell. Besides, a lot of her solo songs were still very unique-sounding, compared to all the other mainstream solo females.