From: Melody

March 30, 1999
Goldstein Gym
Syracuse, NY

The Goo show on 3/30/99 in Syracuse, NY was my first Goo show, and the best concert I've ever been to. The show was scheduled to start at 8pm with doors opening at 7pm and the New Radicals as the opening band. Being a huge Goo fan, I wanted more than anything to meet them. I was told that my best chance was to get there early, so I go five hours early. We find parking at about 3pm, pick up the tickets from the box office, then walk around the Goldstein Auditorium to see if we can find the Goos. I expect a crowd of fans to be waiting for them, but no one is around. I see a truck with equipment parked outside a loading dock entrance. A friend of the Goos from Buffalo walks out and tells us that he's expecting them any minute. 5-10 minutes later the bus pulls up, but I don't believe it is them until I see Mike in the window. I immediately go crazy inside and start to jump and wave. I see no comparable excitement coming from the person I am with, so I become paranoid of looking like some psycho fanatic that the Goos would dread to meet. Johnny steps out and I say hi to him and he says hi back. I start feeling very dizzy from disbelief. He is quick to come over and signs stuff for me. He is so cool and nice about everything that I find myself apologizing for bothering him, but he assures me that I am not. He comments on the number of Goo CDs I have and I just blabber, probably incoherently, about how they are the best band ever and that I love them, blah, blah. I am beating myself up inside for not saying anything cool or special. Then I ask him to sign and draw a picture on my shirt that I had written I LOVE GOO on. I start shaking as he proceeds to draw a cute picture of himself. It has his hair covering his eyes and even includes his adorable chin. Mike then signs my shirt with a funny drawing of himself wearing a top hat. Then I blabber a string of stupid questions about why he doesn't sing. I was just too excited to have common sense or any decent ability to communicate. Johnny comes back out and I go back to him for another picture and a kiss. He jokingly says that he is a slut and kisses me on the lips. I was thinking it was gonna be a kiss on the cheek and was at that point expecting to wake up from a dream. Johnny's black Jeep was being parked next to the bus by a friend and we almost get hit. He makes some funny comment about not killing us. Robby comes off the bus with a big grin and signs stuff for me, but he refuses to sign anything as "Mr. Adorable." Robby is so sweet, and unbelievably easy to talk to. I tell him that I like his hair red, and he says that his mom likes it too, a lot better than black. He sits and talks to some of his friends for awhile, but turns to talk to us every so often. I stood there trying to comprehend that I just met the Goo Goo Dolls, ignoring the fact that the person I am with is cold, hungry, and ready to leave the vicinity. But I am unable to bring myself to leave because Robby is still sitting there. Before Robby goes in, I ask for a guitar pic, but he can't find any in his pockets. He apologizes, saying that he would've given me one.

Our timing was pretty lucky because just after they all go inside, a group of fans arrive, just missing the Goos. I have fun talking with the other Goo fans, but they have floor tickets and go to be the first in line. I unfortunately had balcony tickets, so there was no need to wait that early. I kill some time by standing with my ear against a door listening to the sound check and chatting with other fans. There's a blurry window on the door that I could look into and see Johnny and Robby on stage playing. That kept me well occupied for quite awhile.

We were the second group of people in line for balcony seating and I had my camera hidden in my shirt, because I found out that they didn't allow them inside. We sat in the front row off to the side of the balcony, which is really close to the stage with an excellent view. The New Radicals came on at 8pm. I only knew one of their songs. They were okay, but I just wanted to see the Goos, so I couldn't get too into it. The lead singer had a lot of energy. He tripped over a speaker, knocked over the microphone stand, and took people's hats and put them on. They interacted well with the audience and people seemed to enjoy their performance. The only female in the band got down on the floor and kissed some guy. They played for about 40 minutes.

After the New Radicals finally get off, I wait another 40 long minutes for the Goos to come on. I wait with a headache because I didn't drink anything all day since I didn't want to miss anything for an emergency bathroom trip. I seriously had a couple of nightmares about that. Around 9:20, the lights dim and music blasts. I think Mike came on first. They play DIZZY, then LONG WAY DOWN. They sound amazing live. My headache is long gone. Johnny has on black leather pants and the gray tank top. Robby is dressed in all black, black socks, no shoes of course. Mike is wearing a light blue shirt and shorts. I can't see Dave since the keyboard is on the same side of the stage where I'm sitting. Robby was so funny and cute. He would come to our side of the stage and we would wave and point to him and he would point back, make funny faces and cover his eyes. Before playing Name, Johnny begins telling a story about the tour with the Rolling Stones. So it gets quiet. I take this opportunity to yell out "Hi, Mike", and I guess someone else also said something about Mike because Johnny starts saying that Mike is married and tells Mike that he's just trying to help him out. He thanks us for interrupting his story, and continues with it. They then play Name, and toward the end of it he stops and starts talking, but we yell out "Tell the Name story." Before he starts it some guy yells out "I got your letter," and Johnny says, "fuck you," and tells the audience what the guy said. He tells the cool story so well and finishes with "I think about you all the time, but I don't need the same, it's lonely where you are come back down and I won't tell em your name." John introduces the band after about 6 songs. He mentions that Mike is single and has just not found the right one yet, but says he isn't allowed to talk about Robby's marital status. They play FALLIN DOWN, one of my very favorites, so I'm very happy. John stops to comment on the crowd being good looking and says something about bare bellys. Then he yells at some guy to pull down his shirt and says that he doesn't want to see his disgusting stomach. Someone on the floor had a poster that I couldn't see too well, but it made its way to Johnny and he held it up. It had an old picture of Johnny, I think he said at 17. It said something like Beat His Ass With A Baseball Bat. A couple of bras are thrown on stage and John gives one to Robby. Robby quickly tosses it away from him and says that it's just like throwing dirty underwear at them. John tells him to shut up. They were so funny. Mike did a pretty cool solo before Naked (I think). Everyone, of course, sang along for IRIS, and also with SLIDE, NAME, and BLACK BALLOON. The very last song was TWO DAYS IN FEBRUARY, with only Robby and Johnny on stage. Toward the end of the song he adds stuff like I hate you bitch and something about hurting his feelings. Then finishes it with a ton of energy, ending an awesome show.

I'm not sure about the order, but they played DIZZY, LONG WAY DOWN, LAZY EYE, SLIDE, JANUARY FRIEND, NAME, BLACK BALLOON, BULLET PROOF, FULL FOREVER, FALLIN DOWN, ANOTHER SECOND TIME AROUND, BROADWAY, IRIS, BURNIN UP, NAKED, HATE THIS PLACE, TWO DAYS IN FEBRUARY. I think that is all, I might be missing one.

After the show, we wait by the tour bus for about an hour with a bunch of other people. I bought a Goo shirt for $20 and wanted it signed. Nathan signs my shirt first and even draws a funny picture. Mike comes out after awhile and signs my shirt and kisses me on the cheek. Unfortunately, Johnny walks into the bus before getting to where we were waiting. A few minutes later Robby walks toward the bus, but before he gets on, he stops and gives me the guitar pic I had asked for. All I could say was "I love you, Robby!" I left so happy after having the most wonderful time at my very first Goo show. I LOVE GOO!