Alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls to ring in new year in Detroit

NewsDecember 30, 2009Unknown source

Josh Daunt

PREVIEW (WJRT) -- Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac says if his New Year's Eve isn't planned for him, he's doesn't know what to do.

"We generally do a show every New Year's Eve," he said. "Actually, one year we didn't and I was sitting on my kitchen floor going, 'What do people do on New Year's? Oh, they go to see bands. That's why my band plays.'"

Luckily for Takac, he already has plans for Thursday evening. The Buffalo-bred Goo Goo Dolls will be spending this December 31 at MotorCity Casino's Sound Board in downtown Detroit.

And the band plans to entertain not only the Motown crowd, but also a contingent of loyal followers who've spent nearly every New Year's Eve with the band for over a decade.

"We have a lot of fans that come from all over the world actually that join us when we play on New Years," Takac said in a telephone interview last week. "So, there's sort of become this core group of people that come out to all the shows. And it's sorta cool to bring that gang of people around with you annually like that, as well as the fans who are in the area too."

And despite their vast experience with New Year's Eve shows, Takac says they're still working on perfecting the big moment of the night.

"There's been years where we've missed it completely actually! But we do our best to get a big clock up there and try to make something cool happen. Make sure there's somebody around to give a hug to that you care about, blow off a confetti cannon or two and head into 2010 I guess."

But they do have a few surprises planned for the show.

"This show we're actually doin' a couple new songs from the record that'll be coming out next year."

The band, which also includes singer/guitarist Johnny Rzeznik and drummer Mike Malinin, haven't been regularly touring for over a year. But they've been keeping very busy in the studio, while still keeping their live chops fresh.

"We've been working on an album for the last year and a half, but we do shows probably every month or two. So it's nice to get everybody back together."

And he's especially looking forward to creating more timeless New Year's Eve memories. Or rather, creating some New Year's Eve memories.

"You know, we've spent an awful lot of New Years Eve's in Las Vegas over the years (and) the early years are fuzzy honestly," Takac said. "But as I said, it's always a lot of fun and people tend to come out and bring their party big time."

[source]http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/entertainment&id=7193588[/source]

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