As I walked against a skin-biting wind to the Paramount, I worried that no kid in his right mind would show up this early for the No Doubt show, not in this weather. By 6:00 p.m. the sky had been spitting down snow for three hours, and the temperature was a stark 32 degrees and getting colder by the minute. But as I rounded Pike from Ninth Street, lo and behold, I found a line already a block long.

"How long have you been here?" I asked a trio of red-nosed, shivering girls near the front.

"Since one o' clock," they responded in unison.

Danielle Malchereck, Shawna Held, and Jane Dillon, all 14, all from Everett, took advantage of their early release from school, risking hypothermia and frostbite to secure favorable seats to see one of their favorite bands. Danielle's father, the lucky chauffeur, waited in the warm car.

"Why did you come down so early?" I asked. I'd only been standing with them for five minutes and already my toes were frozen and my eyes wouldn't stop watering.

"No Doubt is the best," said Danielle. "Gwen Stefani doesn't have to be all fake, like Britney Spears. Gwen puts it out there and just says what she has to say."

"She's such a confident singer," added Shawna. "Because she has so much confidence, it gives you confidence when you listen to her."

"She's just so original," said Jane. "She's awesome."

As we stood and made small talk, I found the three of them were less hyperactive and more intelligent than the ditzy, tank-topped, short-skirted "Gwennabes" I foolishly expected to encounter.

"Look at that girl!" exclaimed Shawna. "Look at what she's wearing!"

All four of us turned to find a short, brown-haired girl approaching the line in a tight sleeveless shirt, no coat in sight.

"And that one's wearing a skirt," giggled Shawna. "They're gonna die out here."

That's how I pictured the typical No Doubt fan--too cute to wear a coat. Danielle, Shawna, and Jane may have been standing in the cold for six hours, but they weren't stupid. The car full of 16-year-olds arriving as I was leaving, the ones donning the latest Wet Seal sparkly tank tops and body glitter--they were stupid. MEGAN SELING

megan@thestranger.com