Goo Goo Dolls’ lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik may have some fears of the future, but that doesn’t mean the band is stuck in the past.
The Buffalo-based band played for an hour and 45 minutes at the St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater in Syracuse on Wednesday night, following a strong opening act from fellow alt-rock veterans O.A.R.
In their 25 song set, the Goo Goo Dolls featured all their classic hits, but seamlessly mixed in eight tracks from their two most recent albums. Starting at 9:06 p.m. with “Broadway,” the band played three hits before Rzeznik paused to reminisce.
“I remember playing at the Lost Horizon and just being amazed that anybody actually came and saw us. You guys have been good to us for a long time,” Rzeznik said, and they launched into “Big Machine.”
After a few more classics like “Black Balloon,” which prompted fans to throw dozens of black balloons around the venue, the Goo Goo Dolls played two new tracks, “Yeah, I Like You” and “Going Crazy” from their 2022 album Chaos in Bloom.
“We’re gonna play some new songs, play some old songs, and this one is particularly dusty, it goes like this!” said pink-haired bassist and vocalist Robby Takac before leading the band in “Lucky Star.”
Later, Rzeznik sang over keyboardist Jim McGorman’s lead piano as the pair performed a stripped back version of “Sympathy” that the audience loved. Next, Rzeznik opened up about some anxiety about Big Tech.
“I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like they’re trying to make humans obsolete – in every way,” the singer said. I’m a little scared of AI. I feel like if I had a conversation with chatGPT, it’d be like talking to a psycho ex-girlfriend,” Rzeznik joked.
As the singer spoke, roadies wheeled out the band’s “sixth member,” an archaic tape recorder with “TAPEY” spray painted across the front in thick red letters. Rzeznik told the audience that he hired talented session musicians to…
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