Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani both had a blast during the first concert of Gwen’s “This Is What the Truth Feels Like Tour,” and Blake wasn’t about to let celebrity blogger Perez Hilton ruin Gwen’s big moment.
Blake Shelton attended Gwen Stefani’s July 12 concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, so he saw the large crowd that turned out for the show with his own eyes. However, Perez Hilton claimed that there were so few fans at the event that reps for the concert promoter, Live Nation, were handing out free tickets outside the Xfinity Center. Hilton also reported that ticket prices were drastically slashed before the show, and he shared a video taken from inside the concert venue that showed row after row of empty seats.
After Blake Shelton got wind of Perez Hilton’s blog post, he jumped on Twitter to inform everyone who wasn’t in attendance that Gwen Stefani’s concert was actually packed. As Us Weekly reports, Blake even provided photographic evidence to back up his claim.
That’s right everybody.. No matter how good your eye site is @gwenstefani show was “empty” lastnight. pic.twitter.com/8FI8ge8JYR
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) July 13, 2016
According to Blake, he snapped his own photo of the excited crowd that turned out to watch Gwen end her seven-year hiatus from touring. Blake Shelton did not join Gwen Stefani onstage at any point during the show, but he was close the action as she performed a set list that was a mix of songs from her solo albums and a few No Doubt favorites. As the Inquisitr previously reported, many of the tunes Gwen chose to perform were songs from the This Is What the Truth Feels Like album that are about her relationship with Blake Shelton . However, Blake revealed that his favorite performance of the night was the No Doubt classic, “Don’t Speak.”
Wow… I am a terrible photographer but this is an epic thing to see!!! pic.twitter.com/up6bQC5NqS
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) July 13, 2016
The video that Perez Hilton shared on his website was seemingly taken before nightfall when the venue was just starting to fill up, so this likely explains why it shows so many empty seats. One of Blake Shelton’s Twitter followers also pointed out that it’s a common music industry practice to reduce ticket prices before a show.
“Yeah but there’s no story if you mention that part,” Blake responded .
Gwen Stefani’s supportive boyfriend also noted that her performance was on a weeknight .
“Wish I could get that many THOUSANDS of people to come see me on a Tuesday night,” he wrote.
It’s true that the show didn’t sell out, but the Los Angeles Times reports that the venue was “approximately two-thirds full.” Gwen Stefani certainly didn’t act like she was disappointed about the turnout after the show was over — she celebrated her return to touring by sharing a sweet Shefani selfie on Instagram. As you can see, she has a huge smile on her face in the intimate photo.
Gwen Stefani is an energetic performer who likes to move around while she sings, so she likely worked up quite the appetite during her show. Luckily, Blake Shelton made sure that his girlfriend would be able to put something yummy in her tummy after she said farewell to her fans. According to People , he hired a food truck owned by Captain Marden’s Seafoods to cook up a few tasty treats for Gwen and the This Is What the Truth Feels Like crew. The Cod Squad Food Truck menu reportedly included “lobster rolls, fried calamari, clam chowder and french fries.”
The truck parked behind the Xfinity Center after the show, and Gwen and Blake easily won over the crew serving them; they were reportedly very genial and talkative.
“The guys on the truck, they said they were regular people, very friendly,” an employee dished. “They couldn’t say enough about them.”
Gwen Stefani can’t claim that she sold out the Xfinity Center, but it sounds like she and Blake Shelton made some magic memories that they’ll cherish forever while earning a few new fans in the process.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]