Having been a fan of the Goo Goo Dolls for over six years now, I was ecstatic to finally get the opportunity to see them live. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. When I arrived at the venue last night the line up was already completely around the block.

The show was held at L’Olympia, a huge theatre on Ste-Catherine St. To my pleasant surprise the show started at exactly 8pm, the time it was scheduled to begin. This is a rare occurrence when I attend most venue shows so that was a great way to start things off.

Steven Page, ex-member of The Barenaked Ladies, was the evenings opening act. He introduced every member of the band as Steven Page and went on to say that if the crowd enjoyed the show then he was Steven Page as well and if they did not then he was Ed Robertson (member of Barenaked Ladies) It was impossible not to get the crowd excited when he began to play BNL’s hit single “Jane” followed by many other classics from the group such as “Brian Wilson” and “It’s All Been Done.” I was standing next to an older couple who took it upon themselves to do some swing dancing in the middle of the venue as he played.

One of the loudest moments of the entire night was his reference to the Grammy award winning band “The Arcade Fire” who hails from Montreal. He went on to explain how much the Quebec music scene has taken over the music industry. The crowd didn’t argue that. He ended his set by getting the crowd involved by singing a few “La La La’s” and then some more in French, whatever that means. His quirky pink jacket, oversized glasses and humor was enough to put everyone in attendance into a great mood.

At exactly 9:15, again right on schedule, The Goo Goo Dolls took to the stage. Let’s just say I was slightly overwhelmed. Before I go into details about how incredible the show was, I’m going to point out one thing that bothered me; the lighting. The two spotlights at the back of the stage were pointed directly into the crowd, blinding anyone who was standing off to the sides. I could barely look at the band for more than five seconds without turning my head and seeing severe spots.

Aside from that the show was everything I imagined it would be. The Goo Goo Dolls know how to put on a show. They have years and years of experience under their belt which shines through in their stage presence and their music. They started the night off with “Sweetest Lie” and followed that up with some of their hit singles “Slide”, “Here is Gone” and “Can’t Let It Go.”

As they began to play one of their earliest singles “Black Balloon” I freaked out. That rarely happens to me when I attend a concert but when they started playing the first chords to that song I was immediately transported back to 2002. Some songs stick with you forever and I’ll always remember hearing it on the radio and now getting to see it live was something special. If it’s possible they’re even better live than on their CD’s.

They played some of their new tracks from their brand new CD “Something For The Rest of Us” and followed that up with some more old classics such as “Better Days”, “Stay With You” and “Let Love In”. During their hit “Name” lead singer John Rzeznik took a moment to tell the crowd how much the song meant to them and the audience remained dead quiet to listen.

Right before the encore they performed the song that everyone in the audience was waiting for; “Iris”. It was the only time during the show that I could no longer here the band because the crowd was singing with everything they had. Couples were dancing together and friends were swaying and everyone was completely lost in the song.

They ended the show with the single “Broadway” and promised to visit Montreal as soon as possible. John Rzeznik tweeted the next morning and praised Montreal for being one of the loudest crowds of the tour.