“We’ve gotta come back to the UK sometime soon so we can
watch QI again,” the eternally youthful Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik
states to a chorus of high, throaty laughs and deep chuckles that ripple through
the near-two thousand people before him. “It used to be drugs and women – and now
it’s just Stephen Fry.” It’s refreshing patter from the man, a step away from
the somewhat banal and cliché lines enjoyed by many vocalists, and he visibly
delights in the oddity and quirkiness he evokes with such comments.
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| John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, performing live in 2016. (Courtesy of chicagoconcertreviews.com) |
This six-date UK tour – of which the O2 Academy in Leeds is
the second stop – is pretty much the band’s only touring commitment behind
latest effort Boxes that sees them
venture outside North America. It’s curious how they’ve never broken the UK the
way they did the US – though few post-grunge bands ever made huge waves here in
the era of Cool Britannia. It’s arguably more surprising that they didn’t break
through afterwards though – from their roots, the Buffalo band shifted to alt-rock
balladeers in the mid-nineties, before their change to chart-humping pop rock
in the last decade. They sound commercial and hungry – yet they remain an act
known to the wider European public as somewhat of a one-hit wonder, which is
rather a shame.
Their show tonight roughly splits three ways and touches
upon all the key musical iterations of the band, with particular emphasis on Boxes and 2013's previous record Magnetic (the two albums contribute over
a third of the setlist between them). From the hand-clap-heavy piano-pop of So Alive, to the scuzzy snarl of guitar
on Long Way Down to the soft rock
strumming of Black Balloon, Rzeznik
and bassist Robby Takac (the only other permanent band member and co-founder
thirty years ago) steer their set through an uplifting and joyful hundred
minutes, mining a richly melodic vein in their songcraft. Opener Over and Over takes an echoing
soundscape of chords over a violently percussive bass approach and marries it
with a fist-pumping stadium-sized chorus. Rebel
Beat is a slice of equally defiant power-pop that encourages arms aloft by
the dozens.
Rzeznik is no fool either, and doesn’t overreach in pursuit
of high range; he lowers his register for several older tracks, most notably on
grungy-highlight Naked, and ably
sidesteps any potential bum notes. Takac gamely takes lead vocals twice in the
evening too; the highlight the first time is a well-worn version of classic
track Smash, all sharp angst and sweaty
spirit, whilst later on, it’s his tribute to the late Prince with a cover of I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man
(recorded on their third album Hold Me Up)
that is the show-stealer, featuring some scintillating guitar fretwork from
Rzeznik. The pair, plus touring musicians Brad Fernquist, Korel Tunador and
Craig Macintyre, are a slick unit too; they deliver fully-realised performances
of Souls in the Machine, with its
folksy, Midwestern strut, and are equally comfortable with the band’s biggest
charting hit stateside, the gorgeous ballad Name,
a song that brings a tear to the eye of several ladies (and a few men) in the
house.
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| Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls performing live in 2016. (Courtesy of Las Vegas Informer.) |
It’s a testament to the band that their show doesn’t feel
like an extended build-up to that ubiquitous number that made their name in
Britain. Still, after rousing performances of pop-rockers The Pin and Stay With You,
and to delirious screams, Iris is
duly delivered. It’s worthy of the hype too – Rzeznik’s crowning songwriting
achievement transcends its live setting as the crowd holler back the iconic
refrain at him and Takac. It’s a beautiful moment, and perhaps it would have
been better to finish the show right there, rather than rolling out two more
tracks in the aftermath of the communal, emotional high. Still, Broadway goes down a storm, and encore Long Way Home reaffirms their
singalong-songwriting chops. As Rzeznik and Takac say their goodnights and
vanish quickly as the house lights pop up, they leave a few thousand devoted acolytes
sated and satisfied. It’s a shame that the Goo Goo Dolls aren’t bigger in
Britain, yes; but from their energetic performance here, they’ll remain America’s
top pop-rock export and best-kept secret for a while yet.
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