Classic RockNovember / December’99 Goo Goo Dolls Set-list: Dizzy/Bulletproof/Burning Up/Long Way Down/Slide/Full
Forever/January Friend/We Are The Normal/Flat Top/Naked/Name/Black
Balloon/Hate This Place/Girl Right Next To Me/lris/Broadway/ The days of perennial supports and nightclub slots are long over for the Goo Goo Dolls, even though the 'Dizzy Up The Girl' album got its UK release a few weeks after this show, the Empire was an aching three tiers full. A phalanx of American students abroad; all cruelly cut T-shirts and shorts designed to scare animals had taken the ground floor, while the rest of the building weighed uneasily with moon-faced couples and braying nerds, who informed everyone in a 30-foot circle that they'd bought the album on import months ago. Impressive though the Empire may be, it must resemble a scout hat to the Goo Goo Dolls. Back home in the US they're a stadium act in every sense of the word; the original three-piece line up is augmented by keyboards and a hapless second guitarist as well as the kind of lighting rig that Gene Simmons could only nod silent approval at. Surprisingly, it suits them. The recent shows at the medium-sized University of London Union made them look awkward as their arena-sized antics became cumbersome and wearing. The Empire presented them with no such problems. They've eased off shamelessly plugging 'Dizzy...' and relented to the idea that the entire back catalogue was always something a little special in the first place. 1995s 'A Boy Named Goo' was given generous space, while 1993's excellent 'Superstar Car Wash' was picked over for a handful of pop-rock gems, and they even managed to cause a minor explosion in the balcony with 'Just The Way You Are' from 1990's 'Hold Me Up' album. Naturally, the couples got their ballads - 'Name', Iris', 'Black Balloon' - while everyone smiled as they queued up for 'Slide'. 14 years after they formed and the Goo Goo Dolls are finally, truly on their way. Come along. Philip Wilding |