Goo Goo Dolls play intimate Buffalo show

NewsApril 29, 2014WIVB-TV News 4

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Goo Goo Dolls have topped the charts and rocked the Super Bowl. Tuesday night, they returned home to the Queen City to help re-christen an historic Buffalo theatre.

The intimate show, which aimed to help bring attention to the recently re-opened North Park Theatre, was made all the more personal as band members told the stories behind some of their most popular songs.

“We just thought it would be a really interesting idea to actually sit down and have a conversation with our audience,” said guitarist and frontman John Rzeznik. “It’s kind of like an oral history of the band in a way and just telling some ridiculous stories because we’ve been around for a long time.”

Band members say they’ve been doing more performances in smaller venues to have the opportunity to connect with their fans and have a conversation with them.

“We actually are on a first-name basis with a lot of the folks in the audience tonight,” said bassist Robby Takac. “It’s funny, you look out and you see people you know the whole time you’re playing.”

The show at North Park Theatre was sold out shortly after tickets became available. Some 600 fans packed the theatre to listen to Tuesday night’s concert.

“I think it’s great that we can play in the city again. Last time we played here was 10 years [ago]. We played right out front of City Hall on the 4th of July,” Takac recalled.

Before Tuesday’s concert, the band came out to sign copies of the Buffalo News for $20 a-piece as part of the newspaper’s Kids Day, which benefits Women and Children’s Hospital.

The band, which has been making music for the past 30 years, is being followed by a camera crew documenting many of these intimate performances. The director of the documentary believes it will be ready to be seen by the public in about nine months.

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