Page 53 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2023

The headlining act was the one and only Goo
Goo Dolls -- comprised of guitarist/lead
guitarist Johnny Rzeznik and bassist Robby
Takac, along with touring musicians Brad
Fernquist, Craig Macintyre, and Jim
McGorman. Playing an impressive 24-song
setlist starting with “Broadway,” the dark stage
was illuminated with news broadcastings
depicting tragic events -- until Rzeznik
proclaimed, “Turn it off! We’re putting all that
aside tonight!”

The band was full of energy, in spite of Rzeznik
being seated on a road case due to injuring his
ankle at a prior show. However, that did not
stop him from engaging the crowd as he would
normally. With a career spanning three
decades, the band celebrated all of the classics
as well as brand new songs. Playing everything
from “Name,” “Slide,” “Come to Me,”
“Sympathy,” “Here is Gone,” “I’m So Alive,” and
closing out the show with “Iris,” the band
showcased their immense catalog of hits.

Since forming in 1986, Rzeznik and Takac
didn’t find major success until their fifth studio
album “A Boy named Goo” with the song
“Name.” The song topped the charts, which
converted the then alternative rock band into a
contemporary pop rock group. With the release
of “Dizzy up the Girl” in 1998, the duo hit super
stardom with the song “Iris.” Featured on the
soundtrack of the film “City of Angels,” “Iris”
became an instant hit. A four-time platinum
selling album, it sold over four million copies.