I just returned home from the Fastball/Sugar Ray/Goo Goo Dolls concert at Blockbuster Pavilion in Charlotte, NC. Of the 3 GGD concerts I have been privileged to attend, this one was the best by far!

My friend and I arrived right before 9 pm, thereby missing Fastball and Sugar Ray. No tears were shed, we were there to see and hear the Goos, after all!!

The band seemed to be in very good spirits tonight. John, in particular, exhibited a child-like jubilance. He interacted a lot with the audience. The audience was great tonight: there was a lot of screaming and applause after each and every comment and song. John forewarned the 1st year in college crowd against the dangers of the duplicitous bong, as well as the "walk of shame". He was cracking up during the speech; he even repeated the bong gesture and noise several times.

Though John was smiling, very active, and played and sang great tonight, the show really belonged to Robby. He was on fire!!! He looked good, as if he had slimmed down a little bit. All the songs he sung were performed *very* well. At Blockbuster, there are 5 or more huge television screens located throughout the pavilion seating area. There were a lot of good camera close-ups of Robby tonight. He made a comment about us (the Carolinas) just barely missing Hurricane Dennis. Just like John, Robby also looked like he was in a great mood.

When introducing the band, I learned a new bit of info on the keyboardist, Dave Schultz. (For those that don't know, Dave is just touring with the Goos. He is not a member of the band.) John said to give him a big hand because Dave had just completed 9 days clean, out of rehab. Then John joked he would make Dave a scotch backstage afterwards.

I noticed a harmonica player onstage during Broadway. Does anyone know his name or history? I have never heard anyone mention him before.

There were several funny things that happened during the show. During "Bullet Proof", John changed the lyrics "Do you like the way you feel" to "Do you like the way I feel". He seductively caressed his chest at that time. I know he wasn't serious. It made me crack up. Later, while chatting with the audience, he made some noises to sound like bass in rap music. Then he said, "I hate that s***, I hate that s***!" Also, one time Robby ran down to the front center of the stage and pulled the neck of his shirt down. Makes you wonder what was going on with the audience up front. Hmm�

All in all, every song sounded wonderful. Robby's songs sounded the best of all (and they are usually not my favorites). It was refreshing to see the guys in happy moods tonight. It was mostly likely due to both a responsive audience and other unknown external factors. The moral of the story is, dance, sing, and scream when you see the Goos perform live. You will get a better show because of it.