Goo Goo Dolls Explosion of Energy

By Rachel Golden

The size of the Utica Auditorium shrank Tuesday night as Lisa Loeb and the Goo Goo Dolls invited fans up close and personal into their lyrics, their songs and their conversation.

Bundled in layers, Emily Mercurio,15, and Shelby Daikus,15, Goo Goo Dolls' fans from New Hartford, were two of many that ventured to the city on a cold night to hear some of their favorite songs.

"They never have a concert this close to New Hartford, it's a good experience," Daikus said.

Inside, close to 7:00 p.m., Loeb joined the wooden stool, bottle of water, microphone and Hello Kitty doll on stage in her pigtails, short blue dress, fishnets, black boots, her signature black rimmed glasses and her acoustic guitar.

In between songs that are well-known favorites and new songs off of her new album, "Hello Lisa," she engaged in playful conversation with the audience.

Fans were asking for her water bottle, her doll, her guitar pic and her shirt.  She agreed to the water and pic request, then suggested, "Next time, we can have a garage sale on stage and do makeovers and eat pizza."

            She shared her day's voting experience of which a fan asked her to sing a song about it.

And in her quaint storytelling style, she did.

After her set, a final thanks of hers went to the Goo Goo Dolls.

The crowd went into an uproar of eager anticipation.

The lights went up, and more fans began to gather around the stage as a red curtain dropped.

After a short wait, the lights dimmed to black, the audience let out a unified scream, the bass roared and the curtain went up with an explosion of the Goo Goo Dolls' energy.

Johnny Rzeznik, Robby Takac and the rest of the guys seemed as happy to see the fans as the fans were to see them.

Takac never seemed to stop smiling even as he was running all over the stage with Rzeznik and when he was singing lead.

He even brushed his hair off of his face a few times and revealed that his eyes have as much spark and wail as his bass playing.

Rzeznik expressed his fan appreciation when talking of their early days driving around in a van.  "We're still hanging in there," he said.  "So thankyou very much for being part of that."

Rzeznik encouraged the audience to sing along, and the band and their fans showed their loyalty as they sang to each other.

Half way through their set, Rzeznik and Takac reminisced about their New York days.

"When the leaves are changing, this is one of the most beautiful places in the world," Takac said.

After playing through a history of almost 20 songs, including new music from their album "Gutterflower", they returned for an encore that ended with a cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl."

Rebecca Clark, 21, a student at Utica College and a fan of the Goo Goo Dolls for six years, had the same elated look on her face as everyone around her.  "This is my third time seeing them," she said.  "They have so much energy.  It was everything I hoped it would be."

The concert ended with the same vibe it began with...unity, energy and an eagerness for more.