Gwen Stefani brings her legacy of hits at unforgettable opening of Toronto’s newest concert venue

The Theatre at The Great Canadian Casino Resort — May 4, 2024 

Now, that was a sweet escape.

The Great Canadian Casino Resort officially launched its new 5,000 seat venue — aptly named The Theatre — in Etobicoke with a bang on Friday night, and her name was Gwen Stefani.

The Grammy-winning fashionista and former lead singer (save for a few recent Coachella one-offs) of the reggae rock-driven No Doubt and her own solo success, brought her colourful and athletic A-game to the Woodbine-located spot, and the exuberant capacity crowd couldn’t stop dancing from note one.

Wearing an interesting self-designed outfit that combined a mesh bodysuit with a navy jacket emblazoned with red and yellow stripes, a plethora of tattered cloth strips and pants that had sizable holes in them, the ponytailed and glamorous Stefani brought along 10 leather-kilted dancers and a versatile five-piece band to help flaunt her legacy of hits.

And as she made clear from the get-go, kicking off her loud and buoyant 90-minute show with the call-and-response of “The Sweet Escape” that featured the Akon vocal hook of “Woo-hoo, yee-hoo,” it was an experience to be shared rather than decreed.

Spectacularly fit, the 54-going-on-34-year old Anaheim native made her intentions known just prior to the start of her fourth song — a cover of the Talk Talk classic, “It’s My Life.”

“We collectively — me and the human beings here tonight — are the first ever (in this venue) celebrating music,” she hollered. “I just want to look at you guys and marinate in the moment.”

There was plenty of marinating on both sides, as Stefani dove into a 50-50 split of her solo stuff — the majority of that stemming from her classic 2004 album “Love. Angel. Music. Baby” — and her days with No Doubt, jumping into the latter with “Sunday Morning,” and the only number that mysteriously seemed to have the keyboards on tape for some reason, rather than having the band performing it.

It’s not like there weren’t keyboards present: two of the unidentified musicians were diverse enough to double on percussion and horns as well as synths. But that lone song was the only one in Stefani’s repertoire where the organ was left to backing tracks.

The only other surprise of the night was the lack of an appearance by Blake Shelton, Stefani’s husband, who is headlining the Theatre Saturday. The duo released a new romantic pop duet called “Purple Irises” last week and one would expect that the idea of a weekend Toronto getaway would provide the opportunity of a cameo.

However, Stefani explained that not only was Shelton not in the building, but he wasn’t even in the city.

“Blake told me he was gonna come and hang out with me today,” she told the crowd. “I’m such a good wife. I said, ‘you’re going to be so bored. Stay in Oklahoma and plant me some flowers and we’ll be equal.’ Am I nice?”

She proceeded to sing “Purple Irises” all by her lonesome, and then confessed afterwards: “That’s the first time I’ve ever done that by myself. That was extremely lonely.”

Those were the only two tunes of a 20-song set that were potential eyebrow raisers: the rest of the show was dynamic and Stefani went out of her way to make herself physically accessible to her patrons, grabbing young children from the first row to serenade and embrace them, or shouting out those who happened to be celebrating their birthdays.

“It’s your birthday? Well come up here and give me a hug!” she yelled on a few occasions, halting the show between songs for the embrace and the requisite selfie, and often declaring her love of Canada and for Canadians.

Sounding in fine voice and engaged in a number of dance routines through rock hits like “Ex-Girlfriend” and “Rich Girl” — which borrows a melody from “The Fiddler On The Roof’s “If I Were a Rich Man” — Stefani worked each side of the stage and through a good range of hits, ranging from the balladry of “Cool” and “Don’t Speak,” which she dared the audience to sing the first verse a cappella, to the frantic anti-chauvinism anthem “Just A Girl” and “Spiderwebs” from her No Doubt days.

By the time the uplifting diss track “Hollaback Girl” ended the show — with Stefani sporting a black mini dress adorned with large pink buttons and sparkly black shoes — she seemed to have barely broken a sweat and appeared ready to go a few more rounds.

But it was a satisfying conclusion to an entertaining evening that provided plenty of bells and whistles and made for an amazing venue debut, as Gwen Stefani enhanced her stature as a woman of the people.

And The Theatre itself proved to provide a winning hand; with good sound, great sightlines and a strong video component that amplified the overall ambience of the experience.

Whether or not she shows up Saturday night for a song with her country star hubby, Gwen Stefani provided an unforgettable christening for a new venue that will include future shows by Ne-Yo, an ‘80s package including Thomas Dolby and Men Without Hats, and a four-night Frank Turner festival called Lost Evenings.