By Lindsay Christ
Last Saturday evening, fans of the Goo Goo Dolls lined up and waited for hours outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, anxiously awaiting their performance. As cruel as these conditions were, once the concert started, it was obvious that the time they had spent in the cold was well worth it.
The concert began with Over It, a pop-punk band from Virginia, who started the night out with songs from their latest album, Step Outside Yourself, as well as playing songs from their 2005 breakout album Silverstrand. Led by frontman Peter Munters, Over It kept the crowd’s attention by giving them “quizzes”, where the band would randomly ask the audience to shout out the band’s name and then assuring them that they answered the question much better than Boston audience had.
Musically, the opening band delivered a number of fairly good songs, including “Too Much Information” and “Siren on the 101.” They had a catchy sound and were fairly young and attractive – making them easy on both the eyes and the ears.
After Over It’s set was finished, black balloons were released to keep the crowd occupied while still waiting. After what seemed like forever for the fans that had been standing since late afternoon, the Goo Goo Dolls burst onto the stages amid smoke and cheers.
The one quality especially apparent when the Goo Goo Dolls take the stage is their close relationship to their fans. Lead singer Johnny Rzeznik at times talks to the audience like they’re his close friends, and portrays a very down-to-earth and likable persona onstage.
Most of the songs performed were off of the band’s new album Let Love In, and included hits such as “Stay With You”, “Let Love In”, “Better Days”, and “Give a Little Bit.”
Not to disappoint, they also made sure to include old favorites off of the album Dizzy Up the Girl. When they played “Black Balloon”, they unleashed more black balloons into the crowd in honor of the song. Before playing “Iris”, their biggest hit, Rzeznik told the crowd that he had recently read a review where it criticized the fact that the audience sang the song so loudly. He then proceeded to tell the audience to sing extra loud, a request to which they happily complied.
Even though they did not play many songs from Gutterflower, the album they released between Dizzy Up the Girl and Let Love In, The Goo Goo Dolls had a good mixture of songs. Bassist Robby Takac, who usually rotates with Rzeznik as lead singer, only performed a few of the songs that featured him as main vocalists.
One such was “January Friend”, off of Dizzy Up the Girl, which proved to be a crowd favorite. The crowd also responded enthusiastically to favorites such as “Slide”, “Broadway”, and “Sympathy.”
The Goo Goo Dolls showed that after twenty years they still have the passion for music and performing that they had when they first started out. They are one of the best bands to see live because of their incredible skill, passion and down to earth personalities. Fans left the Ballroom feeling like they had revisited with old friends, friends who happen to be extremely talented musicians.
