From 1981 to 2016 Irvine Meadows Amphitheater has hosted some incredible bands and given music in Orange County a place to be shared. October 29th and 30th, 2016 marked the final shows for the amphitheater.
The show began with ska band Save Ferris and then Irvine born alternative band Young The Giant! Both of them were great and recognized the importance that the amphitheater has played in Orange County. Then Gwen Stefani came on.
Gwen Stefani’s long history with Orange County started in Anaheim with her band No Doubt. A bunch of albums and shows later Stefani landed right back in OC where her career pretty much began.
Inspired by her recent divorce with Gavin Rossdale, Gwen Stefani released This Is What The Truth Feels Like. At the show she played pretty much every song off the album and her older classic solo songs. She even touched on some of the more iconic No Doubt songs like “Just A Girl”, “Underneath It All” and “Don’t Speak”. As with most pop music shows, she had back up dancers, 5 clothing changes (which I have no idea how she changed so fast and didn't mess up her hair) and some special guests. The coolest part was during “Don’t Speak” when everyone sang the first couple of lines to the song. Gwen pulled this girl up on stage to sign her arm so she could get a tattoo and somehow ended up getting sharpie on her nose. Which she discovered in the middle of a song, so she stopped the song to get rid of it. She talked about playing with at the amphitheater which reminded me of all the memories I have from the place
Everyone has a memory from this amphitheater, my first concert there was Weenie Roast in 2013. My friend is still mad that 30 Seconds To Mars played “The Kill” acoustically during their set that night. My dad snuck up to the pit during a Pearl Jam concert and didn't get caught (I’m super jealous). I’m never going to forget the stupid hill you have to hike up to get to the lawn or the time some guy lit a fire during Muse’s set at Weenie Roast in 2015. There’s just so many cool things about the amphitheater and all the music that’s been played there.
Picking someone to close the amphitheater was probably a hard task but it wouldn't have made sense if it was a non Orange County person. No one would have done it justice, Gwen Stefani played songs that were made in Orange County at the coolest thing to exist in Orange County.
So peace out Irvine Meadows and in the words of Fall Out Boy Thnks fr th Mmrs.
