THEY gelled so well as performers that no one would have guessed that No Doubt had taken a long break and this was their first performance together outside of the United States in seven years.

Fort Canning Park in Singapore was jam-packed with 10,000 people preparing to rock out with them as well as other acts such as ZZ Top, Simple Minds and N.E.R.D at the F1 Rocks concert last Friday.

While all the acts had the crowd jumping, there was “no doubt” the Ska band that formed in 1987 was the best act of the night. Bounding onto the stage in all-white gear, drummer Adrian Young, bassist Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and lead singer Gwen Stefani began the set with Spiderwebs from the Tragic Kingdom album.

Stephen Bradley (trumpet and keyboard) and Gabrial McNair (trombone and keyboard) accompanied the band with their respective instruments, giving the music that distinctive, somewhat “circus-y” sound.

Gwen Stefani, who since taking her career down the solo path has launched a successful clothing line, had two babies and performed headlining tours all over the world, was truly in her element that night.

Sporting a white tank top, red bra (which she swapped for a green one later on in the night), white cargo pants and knee-high boots, her hair was in those blonde knots we know and love from her Ska days.

Her vocals were impeccable, her energy level through the roof and her crowd interaction brilliant; she even invited two fans to come on stage and wipe her down with towels.

After the superb opening, the band performed Hella Good and Underneath It All from the RockSteady album, recorded towards the end of their time together as a band.

A short version of Excuse Me Mister followed, before the band took it up a few notches with their uber hit Ex-Girlfriend, which had thousands of girls screaming out the lyrics.

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani rocked the show in Singapore last week. -- AP

New, Simple Kind Of Life and Bathwater came next, followed by their Jamaican dancehall hit Hey Baby which had the crowd grooving to its catchy beat.

Gwen also took the time to blow the audience away with her classic stage move – push-ups, showing us exactly the kind of activity that got her those rock-hard abs.

Running, a slower track whose video features old pictures of the band members in their high school days came next, accompanied by a similarly-themed slide show in the background.

The nostalgic feel of the performance seemed to get to everyone – while audience members giggled and cheered at the old pictures, Gwen performed this with a slight smile on her face, glancing fondly at her band members as if to say, “We’ve made it”.

Different People, a lesser-known song from Tragic Kingdom came next, led brilliantly by Gwen’s unique and spectacular vocals. There was only one song that had the entire venue singing along, and that was Don’t Speak, arguably their biggest hit ever, and the song that got them global recognition.

The song is 13 years old but remains a classic, sang with as much emotion and clarity as when Gwen sang it on the Tragic Kingdom album so many years ago.

It’s My Life followed, and then the band performed Just A Girl, the hit that took them mainstream. It was a reminder of the raw, young sound missing from most of their newer records.

After a short break, the band came back on stage to end the concert with an encore of their hit Sunday Morning. It was a perfect ending to their one and half hour show.

Thanks to a R.AGE online ticket giveaway competition last week, 10 lucky readers got to dance along with No Doubt at the F1 Rocks concert, courtesy of Universal Music Malaysia.