The surge of energy and enthusiasm , both onstage and off was breathtaking as 
the Goo Goo Dolls sauntered on amid dramatic,stabbing bursts of synthesised 
noise and white light.They piled straight into Dizzy the opening track from 
their album Dizzy up the Girl and as they hit the skyscraper high chorus of 
Slide a few numbers later, you wondered how a band could get this good without 
anyone noticing.

In fact, the Dolls are already a very big band in America, where Dizzy Up The 
Girl has sold more than two million copies. But even there, success was a long 
time in coming. Founded in 1985, the group laboured for many years (and albums) 
before achieving a commercial breakthrough in 1995 with the single Name. Last 
year they finally hit the big time thanks to the success of Iris, from the 
soundtrack to the film City of Angels. The follow-up, Slide , is still in the 
American Top 30 almost a year after it was released.

At Shepherds Bush on Saturday, the extravagantly muscled singer and guitarist 
John Rzeznik had his thick mop of hair concealed by a big cowboy hat which he 
kept jammed firmly in place all night. The effect was to make him look more like 
a truck driver than a rock 'n' roll star, an impression which was reinforced by 
his lunkhead patter between songs. Meanwhile, bass guitarist Robby Takac charged 
around, barefoot, with ungainly exuberance, pausing every so often to sing some 
of the songs himself. It was a case of group democracy detracting, Sebadoh-like, 
from the power and coherence of the performance as a whole.

With a road-hardened sound and songwriting style located firmly in the tradition 
of Paul Westerberg and the Replacements, the Goo Goo Dolls presented a typically 
brash, American guitar-band front. But there was a tunefulness and 
thoughtfulness to their songs, especially the lilting Iris, with which they 
finished the set. Impressive too was the tremendous sense of commitment and 
pleasure in performing which they communicated without being in any way 
ingratiating towards the crowd.
Some of those surly, self conscious British bands should take note.