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STEFANIS REUNITE AS NO DOUBT TAPES VH1 STORYTELLERS

Former No Doubt keyboard player and songwriter Erik Stefani (Gwen's brother) joined the band for the taping of VH1's Storytellers on Thursday (Aug. 10) in Long Beach, Calif.

Erik played piano on a rocking new version of one of the band's earliest songs, "Trapped in a Box," marking his first live public performance with No Doubt in nearly six years. The song also featured banjo, sax, and clarinet players. Many tunes, Like "Box," were played in alternate arrangements that offered new insight into the music and lyrics.

Singer Gwen Stefani, sporting a new blonde and pink hairstyle, told the crowd of the inspiration behind "Ex-Girlfriend," explaining that the tune was written about a boyfriend other than her former flame, bassist Tony Kanal. Gwen's current beau, Bush singer Gavin Rossdale -- the presumed motivation for the song -- was among those in the audience.

During some downtime, while a few technical problems were taken care of, Lit bassist Kevin Baldes jumped on stage and sang vocals, along with drummer Adrian Young, on a sloppy version of Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" that also featured No Doubt horn and keys player Gabe McNair on drums. "Don't Speak" was started three times because Gwen forgot some of the lyrics, a development she seemed to find both funny and frustrating.

After the two-hour plus taping, which included nine songs ("Sunday Morning," "Bathwater," "Spiderwebs," "Ex-Girlfriend," "Just a Girl," "Simple Kind of Life," "Don't Speak," "Magic's in the Makeup," "Trapped in a Box"), a small group of family and friends gathered at Young's nearby home for an after-party that lasted well into the night.