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Goo Goo Dolls >> Goo Goo Dolls >> Goo Goo Dolls to rock Sojka Pavilion / article
(Message started by: Shannon on Mar 24th, 2007, 6:24pm)

Title: Goo Goo Dolls to rock Sojka Pavilion / article
Post by Shannon on Mar 24th, 2007, 6:24pm
Goo Goo Dolls to rock Sojka Pavilion
Wildly popular Goo Goo Dolls to rock Sojka Pavilion
By Damian Gessel
The Daily Item

March 22, 2007

LEWISBURG � While other rock stars are magnets for fan phone numbers, letters of adoration and projectile undergarments, the Goo Goo Dolls are recipients of more unlikely trinkets.

"We get 'thank you' letters, birth notices and wedding invitations," explained Goo Goo Dolls bass player and co-songwriter Robby Takac in a phone interview Tuesday from his New York hotel room. "We're just a different kind of band."

The Dolls will bring their blend of heartfelt radio rock to Bucknell University's Sojka Pavilion this Saturday. To use a rock-and-roll cliche, it's a rare night the Buffalo, N.Y.-based band fails to bring down the house.

The Goo Goo Dolls boast a staggering 12 top-10 Adult Contemporary hits, the most of any act all-time. So it's little surprise their often note-for-note live show can sometimes sound like a stadium-size Kumbaya sing-along.

While their mass appeal hasn't always made them the darlings of journalists who subscribe to the popular-equals-mediocre school of music criticism, that same widespread popularity gave them a voice during two of the biggest tragedies in American history.

A month after the Twin Towers went down on Sept. 11, the Goo Goo Dolls played the Concert for New York City, launching into their number one smash, "Iris," before closing their set with a cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl." For Mr. Takac, who vividly remembers cycling through the chords and allowing himself to embrace the adrenaline rush of his band's frenetic live show, it was the first time he could breathe again.

"When we played that Tom Petty song, it was like someone turned on a switch. For the first time I was running around on the stage again," he said. "We were at a rock concert again � there were girlfriends on their boyfriend's shoulders, there was dancing. Everything changed at that minute."

Mr. Takac got a similar feeling when he heard his band's 2005 single, "Better Days," on CNN as the backdrop to a montage about the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

"It's amazing to hear a song like that take on another life. 'Better Days' is a perfect example of that. It started out as a Christmas song and ended up as a call for hope," he said.

Mr. Takac says the band's new album, "Let Love In," marks a return to its emotionally uplifting roots. 2002's "Gutterflower," which came on the heels of Sept. 11, was a "grayer version of us" he explains. That's why the Dolls wanted to bring back the love with their newest record, pieced together in the band's native Buffalo.

"People really attach themselves to what we do. You feel like you're part of someone's emotions, you're part of their life," said Takac. "A pretty magical thing happened making this album."

While in the past Mr. Takac says the Goo Goo Dolls wrote songs separately, for "Let Love In" they gathered in one room and collaborated.

That's evident, as each of the album's 11 songs are driven by a tight inertia, starting with the first track and single, "Stay With You," and ending with the ballad "Become."

The Goo Goo Dolls recently celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band, no small feat in a business filled with dwindling record sales and frequent in-fighting. And unlike other bands who have origins in the '80s, the Dolls' sound is fresh and modern.

Mr. Takac says as long as they can keep it that way, there will be no end in sight for the Goo Goos, who are avid supporters of charities like USA Harvest (they're urging fans to bring canned food to their shows).

Lewisburg will be the last Eastern leg of the band's tour behind "Let Love In." After Saturday, Mr. Takac says the Goo Goo Dolls will fly back to California for a show in Los Angeles.

"As long as we feel there's still room to grow, we'll keep doing it," said Takac.

Tickets for the Goo Goo Dolls' concert at Bucknell University are still available. They're $30, and are available by phone at 577-100 or at the door.

http://www.dailyitem.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/TODO/703220314




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