Not only did Push and Shove songs slot so seamlessly into the mix that a casual fan would have been hard-pressed to figure out whether they were old or new, but the bulk of the performance essentially picked up where the reunion outing of 2009 left off.

So it was again at this “first show we’ve done in about three and a half years,” Stefani acknowledged after a slam through “Hella Good” that had the place roaring and leaping in unison. At their best – and Saturday night they often were – there’s a vitality achieved that courses through track after track, regardless of stylistic detours. What has held things together so solidly – the music and the band – is recognizable identity. Though No Doubt’s evolution was needlessly stalled throughout the ’00s, the reality is that the group has never stopped propelling forward. The idea that they would revisit that era is just as juvenile as insisting they should have made another album like their blockbuster breakthrough – as if they could ever be heartbroken and struggling enough to create something so determined and zeitgeist-tapping again. Yet therein lies the confusion over how this gang should best get back to its roots: which roots? Once Tragic Kingdom took off, the nebulous earlier stuff that makes Ska Parade junkies nostalgic was quickly cast aside. “We never thought we’d ever play this song again,” she said as an introduction, but fans voted for its inclusion online and No Doubt obliged. Or maybe she was just gearing up for the next blast, an unexpected dip into The Beacon Street Collection for the Sublime-y skank ’n’ thrash of “Total Hate,” which they tore into with concentrated fervency, as if summoning their younger garage-destroying selves. Somehow seeing Stefani pogo to it rather than slip into faux-sexy or cat-prowl mode elicited a different kind of energy. Even with the one stinker – the not-ironic-enough “Looking Hot,” a curious choice to leave for the encore – the band stripped away Spike Stent’s slick production to restore some innate hard-charging feistiness to the tune. Yes, they played five cuts from it, including four of the best: the title track to open, infectious lead-off hit “Settle Down” toward the end, and tender takes on the album’s more wistful bits, “Sparkle” and “One More Summer,” tucked into a scaled-down segment in the middle of the 19-song set. But she’s no more or less crucial to the framework than ever-underrated guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, mighty as ever but with finer finesse in his 40s when it comes to worldly grooves, or the group’s groove-seeker, bassist Kanal, without whom this band might not have had a post-ska-punk phase. Stefani’s personality and still-improving voice (it’s getting more powerful with age) can’t help but be what you notice first she’s always been Debbie Harry for O.C.’s Blondie. Love or loathe the latest batch – I find it unsurprisingly half-strong after so long away, enjoyable in spots but nowhere near as irresistible as its predecessor – you can’t say it isn’t a full-band effort befitting its equitable four-square cover. Savvier listeners toss out variations on “it’s a bunch of Tony Kanal jams guest starring Gwen.” And those who still aren’t on board with the danceable advances of 2001’s Rock Steady, logically extended on Push and Shove, tend to resort to the usual trope: “I wish they’d get back to their roots.”

“It’s just another Gwen Stefani album” – that tops the list of disappointed groans. I’ve scarcely come across anyone willing to spin the new collection who hasn’t nit-picked it to shreds.

Half of them, I bet, will cop to flat-out ignoring it – notice that the album barely sold 100,000 copies in its first week of release, or one-sixth as many as the second disc from English upstart Mumford & Sons. Yank the average lifelong fan off the streets of the band’s native Anaheim and you’ll likely hear the same complaints critics have made in even the kindest reviews. Stow your gripes about No Doubt’s Push and Shove, the mega-platinum quartet’s long-overdue return to recording after a decade of solo albums, side projects, making babies, cash-grab tours and general dormancy.

No doubt sparkle meaning