Gwen Stefani of No Doubt performs live in concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto last night. (Dominic Chan/WENN.COM)

TORONTO - Anyone in the mood from some '90s-era ska-pop nostalgia would have welcomed the first tour by No Doubt in five years which pulled into the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night.

Me, I'm wondering why charismatic frontwoman Gwen Stefani even bothered given her super-successful solo career in the mid-2000s, not to mention two popular clothing and accessory lines (L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers), and a marriage to British musician Gavin Rossdale which has produced two young sons.

Meanwhile, No Doubt still haven't recorded a followup album to their 2001 disc, Rock Steady, and are apparently seeking inspiration to write a new disc by hitting the road again.

For whatever reason, the 39-year-old Stefani was game to rejoin her hungrier bandmates - bassist (and ex-boyfriend) Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and Mohawk-and-black-lipstick-wearing drummer Adrian Young.

So the quartet, with two touring musicians Stephen Bradley and Gabrial McNair on keyboards and horns, first appeared on Tuesday night behind a white scrim in silhouette to huge cheers from the sold-out audience before launching the 100-minute show with their hit, Spiderwebs.

All decked out in stylish white-and-black outfits against a futuristic stark white set that included a large runway and a raised platform for Young's drum kit, they certainly looked cool and their music was still likeable if a bit dated at times.

"We just wanted to come on tour and see you guys and get reconnected and get inspired," said Stefani, who showed off her impressively toned tummy in a white tank crop top that recalled No Doubt's heyday.

All eyes were clearly on the appealing and attractive Stefani, a limber, animated and chatty performer who talked to the crowd and even pulled a few fans out the the crowd and onto the stage.

The first male audience member had a No Doubt tattoo on his arm and she grabbed a quick picture with him while another held a placard of apparently incorrect lyrics to a song but she nonetheless sang a verse.

Stefani is nothing if not a crowdpleaser.

"You're deliciously loud, that's why we're here," said Stefani, her peroxide blond hair tied up in knots on her head, to the crowd.

After highlights like Underneath It All, and Simple Kind Of Life, Stefani exited for her first costume change into a fetching sparkly white-and-black-checkered hot pants number complimented by black combat boots and returned for a couple of other strong songs, New, and Hey Baby.

Then it was time to go really reach far back as vintage footage of the band was shown on their large video screen during the ballad, Running.

But the evening's standout number proved to be another power ballad, Don't Speak, which prompted the first big singalong of the night, and was followed by another crowd favourite, their cover of Talk Talk's '80s hit, It's My Life.

Stefani even pulled a Jack Palance at one point, doing pushups on stage, before launching into the lively female empowerment anthem Just A Girl, which devolved into a boys-girls sing-off.

In fact, earlier in the evening, a group of excitable girls stood near the front of a stage with a sign, "Please take us up on stage."

Stefani didn't but she did acknowledge them.

"The whole reason I came on tour was to see your girls. Can you believe this is our audience right now? It's unbelievable!"

By the time they came back for their three-song encore Stefani was in outfit number three, a sparkly black Fred Perry shirt, white-and-black patterned pants and white combat boots, all ready to close the night out with another huge hit, Sunday Morning.

But it was the song previously, a cover of Adam and The Ants’ Stand And Deliver that featured the entire band in a a drumline including Young in a tutu and working his way into the crowd, that really made a statement.

SET LIST:

Spiderwebs

Hella Good

Underneath It All

Excuse Me Mister

Ex-Girlfriend

Happy Now/End It On This

Simple Kind of Life

Bathwater

Guns of Navarone

New

Hey Baby

Running

Different People

Don't Speak

It's My Life

Just A Girl

Encore:

Rock Steady

Stand and Deliver

Sunday Morning