Harajuku Lovers Tour - Critical Response

Critical Response

Critics were divided with the Harajuku Lovers Tour. Patrick MacDonald of the Seattle Times, while applauding Stefani's song-writing efforts and the show's "frothy fun" antics, reprimanded the singer's dancing and limited material, given that she performed only twelve songs from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and two from The Sweet Escape but none from previous work with her band No Doubt. In regards to the musical selection, MacDonald deduced half the songs as "eminently forgettable", a view echoed by Winnipeg Sun columnist Rob Williams, who described some of the album tracks as "filler". Despite these objections, Williams issued her MTS Center performance a three-and-a-half out of five stars. "But sometimes the music didn't matter when there was as much eye candy as Stefani provided," opined the Winnipeg Sun writer. "She is an extremely striking figure and the choreography, light show, backup dancers and frequent costume changes all added to the spectacle, which ended up being more style than substance."

An amazing display of break-dancing is always a show-stopper. As is watching four beautiful women writhing about dressed as Japanese schoolgirls gone wild - and we're back to more great assets.

Mike Ross of the Edmonton Sun was impressed with Stefani's ability to engage the audience, a quality that earned her the description of the "effervescent hostess" from the journalist. In his four star review for the concert, he commended the "swell" music and "amazing" choreography; "It also had merit as a choreographic tour-de-force—thanks in large part to a quartet each of talented dancing geisha girls and B-boys," remarked Ross. Stefani's different outfits and set pieces also won praise. "So you could have enjoyed last night's concert as a fashion show. Or a music video, sure," Ross concluded. Although she called Stefani the "new princess of pop" and adulated the singer's charismatic presence during the show, Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun felt that the concert was "definitely of the lightweight variety in the music department" and noted that, although Stefani models herself after Madonna, she is "no real threat". She gave the concert three-and-a-half stars out of five.

MTV's Corey Moss compared Stefani's performance to Madonna with regard to "the eight costume changes to the dancers to the theatrics to, hell, even the music itself" and avouched that she sounded completely different from how she did with No Doubt. Moss asserted that the No Doubt lead vocalist was the "most captivating thing onstage" with her "confident strut and dead-on vocals". Jon Pareles of The New York Times admired the "glamour and groove" antics of the show and how Stefani "flaunt the perks of stardom". He praised her music, describing the album as "a smart, with honed rhythm tracks that flit from funk to pop, electronics to rock", although calling most tracks "superficial", being about "style", "success", "shopping" and "sex".

Jim Harrison of SoundSpike affirmed that the Harajuku Lovers Tour lacked a strong musical setlist, and also felt that Stefani's stage presence was absent. He stated that she "doesn't have many songs that translate well in a live setting" from her album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and suggested that she should have included songs by No Doubt for "much-needed shots of adrenaline" for the audience, who were, according to Harrison, "figuratively sitting on their hands and literally yawning four songs into the set". Harrison felt that Stefani seemed truly "lost on stage without a band", ultimately describing her performance as " energy", "lukewarm" and seemingly "on autopilot". Furthermore, the SoundSpike writer thought that her performance was akin to that of fellow American recording artist Britney Spears, which was "utterly unsuitable for both the song selection and her style". However, he did praise the rendition of "Hollaback Girl", calling it "great" and "Gwen being all Gwen can be", and called the breakdancing "pretty cool".