The women rocked the house Thursday night at San Jose's HP Pavilion.

It was a three-pronged attack from Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, Shirley Manson of Garbage and Brody Armstrong of the Distillers. Although they sing about a ``Stupid Girl'' or ``Just a Girl,'' they epitomize the ``Girls All the Bad Guys Want'' from the hit by Bowling For Soup.

These women make their bands, and the groups' identities rest squarely on their shoulders. And as each took the stage Thursday night, they accelerated the energy of the crowd.

``You see three women on the same bill that are able to write their songs and not have to rely on any guys,'' Manson commented on the rare bill of three female-fronted rock bands. The Distillers and Garbage have joined most of No Doubt's 30-city tour, and the almost full San Jose arena was their largest audience on tour so far.

The crowd was dressed in everything from Tinkerbell and Strawberry Shortcake baby-T's to leather and fishnet arm warmers. Punked-out hair defied gravity. The makeup of the crowd -- from elementary-school girls to old guys in leather and well-mixed by age, gender and race -- demonstrated that headliner No Doubt has become a mainstream act.

Stefani has reached beyond her ska roots -- hitting it big with a rap song with Eve and a dance hit with Moby. Now, No Doubt has a pop-driven, danceable reggae sound.

Loyal fans who followed No Doubt in the early ska days worry about this pop trend, wanting the band to be successful but wanting to keep it as their own. The song that had the audience screaming Thursday night -- the radio hit ``Hey Baby'' -- had original fans groaning.

Like the collage of pictures on the screen behind the stage that showed No Doubt's physical changes, the band's music has evolved. Some of it is an attempt at broader appeal. Some has followed the path of Stefani's life: first working with her brother Eric, then breaking a seven-year relationship with bassist Tony Kanal and now married to Gavin Rossdale of Bush.

The music speaks of this journey. The old angst-driven songs have given way to happier themes. The album ``Rock Steady,'' which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard charts, revives the band's ska and new wave sounds. Songs such as ``Running'' and ``In My Head'' left some in the audience tripped out at this return to the band's original sound.

Stefani showed her oddball sense of fashion, wearing a black halter top, wispy scarf, striped pants and midcalf boxer-style sneakers.

She worked the crowd, doing the running man, playing tag, performing push-ups and yoga moves and leap-frogging sexily around. Her energy proved she still is one of the most charismatic lead singers around.

The one negative: The sound was a bit distorted, making it hard to understand Stefani and Manson at times.