Right about now, Johnny Rzeznik and his Goo Goo Dolls should be somewhere around New Jersey. But in less than a week, the Buffalo band will be back in Boston, which Rzeznik swears is one of his favorite places to play. He's not just paying us lip service, or plugging his show. To prove it, he told us about one of his first shows in the Hub. It was at the Channel, the former stomping grounds of Boston bands from the Cars to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. "Boston's a great rock city," Rzeznik told us by phone the other day. "I always remember the first show at the Channel. That was awesome. That was . . . crazy. People in Boston like their rock music." Rzeznik and his bandmates headline Monday's MixFest, the annual show put on by Mix 104.1. The band will be joined by "American Idol" winner Kris Allen and Steven Page, formerly of the Barenaked Ladies, at the Bank of America Pavilion. Rzeznik told us the band hasn't settled on a set list, but he does know where he wants to eat. "It's the North End, right? Where all the Italian restaurants are?" Rzeznik asked, reminiscing about one of his trips through the Boston neighborhood. "It was like you could eat the buildings. The smell was so incredible."