It was the smallest crowd the Goo Goo Dolls have played to in a long time, but it didn't affect their performance. As a dress rehearsal for their upcoming tour with Sugar Ray and Fastball, the Goos practiced their set at Los Angeles' Grand Olympic Auditorium in front of 150 or so contest winners, record company employees, and select members of the press (i.e., us) on Tuesday (July 13) night.
Though it was only a rehearsal, it was evident that the band has pretty much been on tour since last September, when their latest record, Dizzy Up the Girl, was released. There were a couple of problems -- skipping one song, having to restart another, and the odd pacing of the set -- but nothing that requires anything more than fine tuning.
It was odd seeing the full rock spectacle and high production values with a few thousand empty seats. Singer/guitarist John Rzeznik acknowledged the awkwardness from the stage, joking, "This is bigger than a lot of rooms we've played in." Still, the miniscule crowd was appreciative, especially for the hits, "Name," "Iris," and "Slide."
Other than those quick asides, Rzeznik, bassist Robby Takac, drummer Mike Malinin, and an auxiliary guitarist and keyboardist were strictly business. The barefooted Takac stalked the stage area with a wireless guitar, shadowing Rzeznik's own frantic pacing.
When Rzeznik played a plugged-in acoustic guitar that kept him at the microphone stand, he seemed leashed and tied down but restless. His voice took over the momentum, articularly on "Name," where Malinin matched his intensity, giving it a harder edge.
As the last note of the final song of the set, "Iris," faded, a video screen dropped down and artist Bill Barminski's short, anti-greed film, specifically commissioned by the band played.
Barminski (who directed the video for Baz Luhrman's Everybody's Free [To Wear Sunscreen]") filled the movie with tongue-in-cheek advertising slogans for the product "Greed," a cameo from Ronald Reagan, and some snappy big-band music.
Synchronized with the last note of the film and a shower of confetti, the Dolls jumped back in with "Just the Way You Are" from their 1991 album Hold Me Up.
The video screen came back down three songs later for the last number of the night, which concluded with Rzeznik and Takac doing their own take on instrument smashing with help from another video. Even that takes practice, apparently.
The Goo Goo Dolls/Sugar Ray/Fastball tour opens Friday (July 16) in Phoenix, Ariz.