Anytime the Goo Goo Dolls play their hometown of Buffalo, NY it’s a big deal. They are currently on tour in support of their 20th anniversary of their biggest album “Dizzy Up the Girl” which was released on September 22, 1998. On this tour they decided to do 3 sold out shows in their hometown and they ended up filming these shows for a later release on DVD. There was a lot of build up to these shows as the first two sold out immediately and they ended up adding the third show, which also sold out quick too. On Saturday afternoon, the band did a signing at a pop up store at Oxford Pennant to even heighten the anticipation of the return of the local boys. Later that night the band took the stage for their 2nd show of their 3 night stay.
Minutes before the band took the stage, various black balloons started making their way through the air. Fans were already showing hand even before the band took the stage. The band started off the festivities by playing “Dizzy Up the Girl” in its entirety. Rzeznik and Takac were moving all about the stage and made a lot of connection to the fans throughout the show. Johnny made sure to say, “It’s great to be home” after a few songs. Of course, more black balloons surfaced as the song “Black Balloon” was played. A four-piece string section came onto the stage for “Acoustic #3” and “Iris.” Rzeznik screwed up the beginning to “Acoustic #3” where he playfully made fun of himself for messing it up as the strings section started it over. It was great to see songs like this and the other deep cuts they played.
The next section of songs started off by Rzeznik playing to video of himself either singing or playing guitar while he sang. It was a weird moment (my opinion) that he actually had a dialogue with himself on a screen with no one else on stage. This was very different but after the first song it got mundane for me. I applaud them for reaching out to do something different but I could have done without this part of the show. After this, they ran through some of their other biggest hits which included “Name” and “So Alive.”
They came out for a 2-song encore which ended with one of my favorite songs they do in “Flat Top.” The band sounded d extremely tight and it made for one of the best sounding shows I’ve attended this year. Thanks for coming home and making us proud guys!
Setlist:
Dizzy
Slide
Broadway
January Friend
Black Balloon
Bullet Proof
Amigone
All Eyes on You
Full Forever
Acoustic #3
Iris
Extra Pale
Hate This Place
Interlude
Better Days (Johnny Rzeznik solo acoustic with video screen)
Can’t Let It Go (Johnny Rzeznik solo acoustic with video screen)
Two days in February (Johnny Rzeznik solo acoustic with video screen)
Fallin’ Down
Lucky Star
Stop the World
Name
So Alive
Notbroken
Another Second Time Around
There You Are
Encore:
Big Machine
Flat Top
We would like to thank Stephanie Estrada from BB Gun Press for the credentials to review the show.
