GOO GOO DOLLS // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
Goo Goo Dolls kicked-off their Miracle Pill tour with a hard-hitting, powerful set that shook up the crowd at Glasgow’s O2 Academy.
GOO GOO DOLLS PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY - 19.02.2020
PICTURE BY: | CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★☆ (4/5)
As the longstanding pop punk rockers, Goo Goo Dolls, announced the tour of their 12th studio album, everywhere fans’ ears pricked up. Beginning in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, they began to unveil their raw, explosive style to the world. With over three decades behind them, they’ve evolved from a punky flare, to a more contemporary rock. They really embrace the tender side that’s always threaded their work. Nowadays, delicacy and power harmonise together in their pop rock beats and, looking at their timeline, their styles’ development has been modern and easily translates to a world that is in need of a hug.
Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac are the genius’s behind the band and, with 34 years together, it’s been over half their lives spent building their sound. Meeting in their youth, the relationship between the pair looks heavily precious to them. When they took to the stage at Glasgow’s O2 Academy a magnetic bond seemed to constantly connect them. The support Rzeznik and Takac gain from each other is clear throughout the night and it’s empowering and inspirational to see.
Kicking off the set with Miracle Pill’s opener ‘Indestructible,’ Rzeznik sung out the lyrics ‘I was waiting for somebody to feel what I feel’ and the crowd lifted their voices and passionately sung which continued all night. It seems as though those in the know, know every word, to every song. Playing older favourites ‘Home’ and ‘Slide,’ the crowd began to shake their hair and their hips. These songs are the hair brush anthems and to hear them live is a momentous occasion for so many
Miracle Pill’s title track’s piano bars began and the crowd roared, they had been looking forward to this stomper and it did not disappoint. It was perfectly followed by ‘Here Is Gone’ and it’s clear it’s a song that will remain projecting and relevant despite its birth over a decade ago. The vocals, which are led by Rzeznik, are so clear and crisp. His voice has the historic gravel tones of early days Goo Goo Dolls but he still excels with powerhouse vocal blasts. The set hits a grungier run of songs and heavier tracks like ‘Fallin’ Down’ ‘Naked’ are supercharged and bring out the more thrasher enthusiasts.
It was interesting to hear the group’s early style played beside the new work. The gentleness of the 1995 beauty ‘Name’ was set to linger in the air and new, high-production ‘Fearless’ kicked in and a futuristic, surreal-sense gripped the room. As set runs into its finale, the fast paced ‘Dizzy’ amplifies the delight in the room. Rzeznik and Takac have done themselves proud and the gratitude on their faces is all too clear as they move into the last tracks of the night. Goo Goo Dolls most widely known track ‘Iris’ sounds out and the room loses it. Eyes well up and arms are thrown into the air with force; this love song is so impactful and no one missed out on the chance to singalong. New ballad ‘Autumn Leaves’ ends the set and with such an epic night it is clear that Goo Goo Dolls have gone through many transformations but they have never lost sight of who they are and what they want to do.
SETLIST: | GOO GOO DOLLS : O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW - 19.02.2020
Indestructible
Home
Slide
Miracle Pill
Here Is Gone
Big Machine
Smash
January Friend
Fallin’ Down
Naked
Black Balloon
So Alive
Name
Fearless
Life’s a Message
Bringing on the Light
Tattered Edge / You Should Be Happy
Stay With You
Dizzy
Iris
Broadway
Autumn Leaves