From: Ron Egatz

The Goo Goo Dolls played here tonight, with two opening acts, the first 
of which may or may not be called Universal Honey. The second opening 
act (which actually got billing) was Ash. They specialized in white 
noise, 13 year old groupies, a drummer who looked like the egghead baby 
chicken from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, and a bass player who puked 
on the side of the stage just before the last song.

The Goo boys rocked as usual, and were out to impress because there was 
a lot of record company tightasses watching, and the show was recorded, 
with Robby spewing some shit about it winding up on an album. Four 
encores happened, one of which was a surprise acoustic set, where they 
did "Girl" and "Personality." The band apologized for playing the 
numbers again after earlier, standard electric versions. Rumor has it 
the Goos and their management were hopeful the acoustic numbers can 
prove the boys from Buffalo can turn the powerful distortion tunes into 
something suitable for an MTV Unplugged gig. These tunes performed the 
second time went over in a big way, as most people could actually hear 
what the fuck was going on, including most of the lyrics. One longtime 
fan said to me "They should think about doing their whole show that 
way." I agree. It was easily just as jumping and powerful, while leaving 
your head attached.

The last encore of one song was dedicated "to Lance Fucking Diamond", 
and all good Goo-heads will know what tune they ended the show with, 
including bringing up a nimrod from the audience who attempted to belt 
out the Lance Diamond solo spot. The kid offered Johnny a Lifesaver.

Band news for longtime fans: Johnny's hair is now blonde, and both 
Johnny and Robby should think about cutting back on the late night 
snacks.

A good time was had by all, except the guy who puked.

Since I saw that gig you may be interested to know The Academy is no 
longer there. It was a great old vadeville-era joint with the seats 
ripped out for stage diving and general admission. The Ford Motor Company 
tore the Academy down to put up a souless pre-fab Broadway theater. 
"Showboat" opens soon. I guess that about sums it up best.

Big trouble! I made a mistake. It's not Showboat. "Ragtime" opens any day 
now. Just think: people will be sitting through crap like that, where the 
righteous once stood and cheered two guys running around with bare feet 
and long hair. I'd rather shuffle off to Buffalo.