No Doubt energetic and tight in Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH When Gwen Stefani performs as a solo artist, she plays the part of a flirty pop idol, cooing lyrics and acting coy in her sexy outfits.

Now that she's back with the boys in No Doubt, Stefani plays like them -- strolling the stage with a confident swagger and bopping around in pirate pants and knee-high boots, her blond tresses swept up in a garden of no-nonsense knots.

Not that it's all work and no play for Stefani and her bandmates, back together after a five-year hiatus and looking and sounding as taut as ever.

Almost 18,000 people packed the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater Wednesday night to greet their ska-pop idols, who tore through a 90-minute greatest hits set with unflagging energy (the show repeats Sunday at Nissan Pavilion in Manassas).

Stefani, whose abs deserve a review of their own, was particularly playful with bassist (and long-ago love) Tony Kanal, while drummer Adrian Young and guitarist Tom Dumont looked perfectly content to be on stage.

Considering the band's ubiquity on radio from 1995-2001, the show was a joyride of familiarity, from the '80s-infected guitar scratches on "Hella Good" to the smooth reggae lilt of "Underneath it All."

It's no wonder Stefani, who turns 40 this fall, is a poster child for enviable physiques (is it possible this woman birthed two children?) since she looked like she was bouncing on an invisible trampoline the entire show, twisting her torso and even dropping for 10 pushups as a lead in to "Just a Girl."

But as infectious as No Doubt's vigor was during their pogo-happy up-tempo tunes, some of the best moments of the show came when the band switched from hyperkinetic ska to straightforward power pop.

Stefani's voice, a versatile instrument that also takes on a sturdier tone when singing No Doubt's material, softened appropriately for "Simple Kind of Life" and rang warm and emotional on "Running."

That song offered the most personal touch of the night as a barrage of home videos from the band's early years, filled with cruddy vans and McDonald's stops, played behind their futuristic stark-white stage -- the contrast of then and now surprisingly touching.

Meanwhile, openers Paramore displayed their growth as a band -- and a live attraction -- with a punchy set of melodic rock.

Frontwoman Hayley Williams, a spunky little redhead in tight yellow pants, is a rock yelper in training, though her singing voice is quite pretty.

The Tennessee-based quintet blasted through the new "Where the Lines Overlap" (a new album is due at summer's end) before granting their fans the hits "That's What You Get" and "Decode."

If T-shirts-to-audience-member ratios indicate anything, expect to keep hearing from Paramore for a few more years.

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or .