BU students and local fans were taken back to a simpler, more familiar time Monday night at Binghamton’s Veterans Memorial Arena. It was circa 1998 when many of us were jamming to popular Goo Goo Dolls hits in the back of our parents’ cars. Or maybe it was at a middle school dance when a 3-foot void of space separated us from our nervous slow dance partner as we rocked back and forth to ‘Name.’
Though the band hasn’t had a big blockbuster movie hit since ‘City of Angels,’ or a wildly popular album like Dizzy Up the Girl from the same year, the once popular songs of the Goo Goo Dolls still maintain their charm and familiarity for fans of all ages who loved them in their heyday.
Monday’s performance was a mere 200 miles east of the bands’ birthplace, Buffalo, N.Y., where the group got together two decades ago. Over the last 20 years, the group’s popularity grew throughout the New York region and then exploded nationally in the mid-90s with chart-topping hits like ‘Name’ in 1995 and ‘Iris,’ the hit song from the ‘City of Angels’ soundtrack in 1998.
The good thing about seeing a band that has been together since 1986, a time when many current Bearcats weren’t even around yet, is the fine-tuned quality of their act. Frontman Johnny Rzeznik has kept a few things intact over the years: his signature side-swept emo hairstyle and his ability to captivate an audience ‘ particularly the females, who were weeping and yelping at the foot of the stage with poster board signs in hand. Though the building didn’t seem packed to its capacity, those in attendance brought the energy of a larger crowd with their obvious adoration for the band and their music. The Arena’s manager, Brian Hoffman, said there were 3,500 in attendance.
The Goo Goo Dolls have been touring the United States promoting their latest album Let Love In, and will be concluding the tour in the UK in August of this year. Although the new album is lesser known than albums like Dizzy up the Girl, which featured such popular songs as ‘Name,’ ‘Broadway,’ ‘Black Balloon’ and of course the three-time Grammy-nominated ‘Iris,’ Let Love In is true to the sound that made the band famous: upbeat, emotional and easy to sing along to in the car that our parents no longer have to drive.
The concert order was friendly to old and new fans, as they alternated between old hits and songs from the new album. Rzeznik switched guitars as frequently as he switched albums ‘ between every song the band played. For those who knew the Goo Goo Dolls in middle and high school, not much had changed ‘ boyfriends held their girlfriends tightly from behind as the crowd wailed along to a spirited rendition of ‘Iris’ and we were catapulted back in time with the familiar opening riffs of ‘Name’ and ‘Slide.’
Aside from the painfully high pitched squeals of ‘Marry me’ and ‘You’re so hot!’ aimed at lead singer Rzeznik, the show was a pleasant and vivid trip down memory lane, which was evidenced by the audience’s demands for the two song encore they were treated to at the end of the show, including a fan favorite, ‘Acoustic Number 3’ from Dizzy Up the Girl.
Assuming Rzeznik’s timeless hairdo will hold up for another generation of middle school dancers, we might be singing along to ‘Let Love In’ in the car in another 10 years.