Goo Goo Dolls deliver a feel-good summer night
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Goo Goo Dolls were back at SPAC on Sunday for a fun summer night of acoustic rock.
“It’s so great to be back, I’ll tell ya,” bassist Robby Takac said to the local crowd from the Saratoga Performing Arts Center stage. “Nothing like a summer in Saratoga.”
Sunday’s concert was part of the Goo Goo Dolls’ Long Way Home Summer Tour with Phillip Phillips, but for this show the guys weren’t all that far from their hometown of Buffalo.
The Western New York band have stopped in the Spa City to play the summer venue for the past few years in a row, and consistently please audiences with each appearance.
The crowd was somewhat light Sunday evening, but show-goers were excited to see and hear their favorite Goo Goo Dolls hits.
Highlights like “Slide,” “Black Balloon,” “Broadway” and “Iris” all came from the group’s 1998 record Dizzy Up The Girl, but fans listened intently while the artists played their lesser-known newer tunes like” Over and Over” and “So Alive” from the band’s most recent 2016 release Boxes, its 11th studio album.
While frontman Johnny Rzeznik delivered lead vocals for most of the set, he passed the spotlight to Takac for a few tunes as well, such as “Bringing On The Light.”
Rzeznik did a stripped down solo rendition of 2003 single “Sympathy” before the band came back for an emotional number called “Better Days.”
Maintaining his rock star vibe, Rzeznik also played a sweet rendition of love song “Come To Me,” an acoustic tune he wrote for his wife before they were married. Released in 2013, it has since been used as a wedding song for many couples.
Rzeznik spoke briefly about his early days of fame, before playing the first Goo Goo Dolls radio hit “Name” from 1995, noting that he’s glad to still be playing it for fans today.
Band members exited the stage after “Iris,” but were back for an encore of title track “Boxes,” a final goodbye to fans for the summer.
Also on the tour, opening act Phillip Phillips made his return to the SPAC stage Sunday to warm the crowd up for the Goo Goo Dolls set. The American Idol star from Georgia opened up with his 2013 hit “Gone, Gone, Gone” and kept fans engaged through his other major song “Home.” Within the set the singersongwriter played a brand new single called “Miles” and did an acoustic cover of 1982 Hall & Oates song “Maneater.”
Together Phillips and the Goo Goos delivered a good night of soft rock for the Sunday night audience by keeping it interesting but playing what the people want.