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Shannon
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Goos slide home with a nostalgic show
« on: Aug 1st, 2011, 10:57am » |
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Goos slide home with a nostalgic show
By Joseph Popiolkowski
DARIEN—The Goo Goo Dolls is structurally sound. If the band was an investment portfolio it would be all in on gold.
The band’s work and live showcase carries little risk and little volatility with a guaranteed return on investment for the devoted—and there are many of those.
Fresh from a day off at home, the band stormed into Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on a summer Friday for the second straight year. Guitarist Johnny Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac emerged together along with two touring musicians from behind drummer Mike Malinin’s kit and launched into a new tune, “Last Hot Night in America.”
The band is currently flying high. A contribution to the “Transformers” soundtrack and an iTunes EP are its recent output.
But that’s not to say the band is on autopilot these days. They’re certainly likable and polite (Rzeznik said, “Excuse me,” into the mic no less than twice). The members drink water, not beer, on stage now.
The band has hit a sweet spot in its prolific 25-year career that plays to its strengths. The band has always relied either on Rzeznik’s whacky guitar tunings to compose a pop gem or Takac’s power chord fixation for a hard-driving thrill.
On Friday, the two bounced back and forth between this material for a refreshing mix-up on lead vocals. There was minimal soloing and other self-aggrandizing behavior.
It has becoming almost a rite of summer to hear a mix of the band’s three distinct eras: the raw post-punk that defined its early days, the polished and sentimental late 1990s pop and the thinking man’s contemporary rock it cranks out today.
In fact, Friday’s set was surprisingly heavy on selections from 1993’s pre-“Name” fame record, “Superstar Car Wash.”
The band revisited “Fallin’ Down,” “Lucky Star” and “ ’Cuz You’re Gone.” The whole “falling down” idea is kind of cliched in songwriting, but you know Rzeznik felt it thenlike he felt the blood in his veins.
The set worked its way from there toward newer material, including a mandatory rendition of its first radio hit, “Name” — a song as old as some of the audience members — which has achieved timeless status along with other Rzeznik compositions, “Slide,” “Black Balloon” and “Broadway,” which were all heard Friday.
Young songstress Michelle Branch opened for her Warner Bros. label-mates with a 40- minute set that was warmly received. She and her backing band closed with the hit “All You Wanted” from her 2002 debut album.
But there’s no doubt it was the Goos that the hometown crowd was there to hear. And there’s still no reason for the band to to be anything but proud of its origins.
http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/music/concert-reviews/art icle506339.ece
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sympathy_0
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Re: Goos slide home with a nostalgic show
« Reply #1 on: Aug 1st, 2011, 11:31pm » |
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What an excellent review! I really want to see this show! I wish Goo and Michelle would come close to me, agh.
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