The Honda Center recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special concert by Gwen Stefani, an Anaheim native. She last performed at the arena in 1997, when No Doubt recorded their “Live in Tragic Kingdom” concert.
Gustavo Arellano, a columnist at the LA Times and a native of Orange County, says it’s fitting that the Honda Center chose to celebrate their 30th birthday with their “hometown heroine” Gwen Stefani. “As famous as she is now, she has never forgotten her Anaheim roots,” he says.
In the early 1990s, the city of Anaheim wanted to build an arena “to bring a professional sports franchise to complement” native sports teams like the Angels, he explains. Thus, the Honda Center opened on June 19, 1993 and later that year, it became the official home of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team.
Boasting 18,000 seats, the venue quickly became a new live performance hub for Orange County, Arellano points out. “It’s not a beloved place the way Dodgers Stadium is, but it also signifies that … Orange County is not just a backwater [suburb]. It could support a huge arena. … So in the realm of performers that could perform at an 18,000-seat arena, you should come down to Anaheim. You don't just have to go to the Staples Center.”