I tried going over to the Goo's tour bus, but it was inside a fence, and security was everywhere. (The Goos had already done their sound check too). We heard the New Radicals doing their soundcheck, and all that time the local radio station was asking all of us that were waiting in line about the Goo Goo Dolls. They finally opened the gates at 5:30, but still and hour and a half before the concert started. But to my extreme fortune, Mary Jane and I just walked right up to the front center of the stage. (We were still about 6 ft or so from the stage though, b/c the barracade was pretty far back...but still front center at my first Goo concert!). Plus, there is security everywhere. There were at least 8 MP's were between me and the stage. Well, I have to give a little info now. Friday, the day before the concert, I was at the World of Goo site, among others :), reading fan's concert reviews.
Well, I'm at the concert at my place on the front row just waiting around. I turn to my side, and Olga and Niki are right beside me! I do a double take, and I say to Olga, "Don't you have some Goo stories on the web?" She says yes, and we introduce ourselves. We talked the next hour while waiting. Niki showed me all of her Goo autographs and stuff.
Well, the local Augusta band, Impulse Ride, came out first. They are tolerable to listen to...but what can I say, I was there to see the Goos! They played for about 30 min., then it took around 20 min. to get the stage set up for New Radicals. They came out and were really cool with the crowd. By now, the crowd was going crazy. It definetely got packed! People were body surfing even before there was a band playing. A whole lot of people asked to get out. By this time, I had lost Niki and Olga. :( New Radicals were good, but I thought their songs sounded way too much the same, but they were fun.
Now it's about 8:30. Time for the big moment...Johnny, Mike, Robby, Nathan, and David all come running out to "Dizzy". They are so into it, and I automatically start jumping up and down and sining along. Johnny says hey to everybody, and Robby says we're all acting crazy! Next they sing "Fallin Down" (I don't remember the exact order of all the songs). The crowd is really into it...a lot of people, including myself, are singing along to most of the songs.
However, some of the people in the crowd are constantly throwing cups and water bottles at the Goos, esp. Johnny. He kept having to duck and move out of the way. He finally has to stop playing during the 3rd or 4th song. He says, "I'm not trying to be and ass, but you guys need to stop throwing sh*t on stage, cuz I don't want to get hit by a damn water bottle." I was surprised that those people pretty much quit throwing stuff on the stage. Johnny tried to start back up where he had stopped, but he screwed up, so Mike played a little drum ad lib.
I saw David, the tour manager, playing harmonica during "Broadway" too. They played "Slide" pretty soon, and that really got us all going nuts. Robby and Johnny were so cool b/c they were always looking right at us and smiling. Johnny would say, "I see you out there". They really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Meanwhile, body surfers were constantly going over my head. I had to hold on to the barracade to keep from falling over. Mary Jane actually got kicked in the face and her nose was bleeding. But she was cool about it, and stayed in the crowd. Some girl behind me threw a t-shirt, not one she was wearing, on stage. Johnny caught it and kept it. When they did "Iris", the entire crowd was singing along, and I could see Johnny and Robby smiling up on stage. They seemed to love for us to sing along. They played a lot of stuff from SSCW and ABNG, which I was super happy about.
Then they stopped playing and Johnny introduced the band. He is soo funny, but sorry I really don't remember what he said. But I do remember that he referred to Robby as his "lover" and that he was pregnant w/Robby's baby! He is so crazy! Then he told the crowd, "I'm kidding, it's a joke,...we are not gay."(Something like that). They were all funny, and it was obvious how much Robby (he is soo cool) and Johnny get along.
Johnny didn't say much about their touring with the Stones. But he did do his impression of Mick Jagger...he did the walk, and talked in a high-pitched voice. He kept playing with the mic stand too...it was really funny to watch, but I guess you have to see it to get the humor. lol Johnny didn't tell the Name story. But of course, they played "Name", and it was great...I think that's my favorite song, but I can never pick just one. Robby sang really well on his leads too. I acutally thought he sounded better live than on the cds.
The Goos played for a long time...then they left the stage, and I'm like, they aren't done yet...they have played "2 Days in February". (Believe it or not, I had never heard that song. It was mentioned on a lot of reviews, so I couldn' t wait to hear it). Sure, enough they came back out and played some more songs.
Oh yeah, about this time, the girl next to me takes off her bra and throws it up to Johnny. He caught it and hung it on his mic for the rest of the song. Then after the song, he said, " you might want this back", and threw it back to her. It was pretty funny. When they got to the next to last song, Jonny threw some guitar picks into the crowd...I caught one! yey! That was one of my goals for the night. Mary Jane and the "girl right next to me" caught the other ones he threw out.
Then came the song I had been waiting for. Johnny and Robby were the only two on stage for "2 Days in Feb". Johnny said that it was a song they wrote over 10 yrs. ago, and that he wanted us to sing along. I was like, "Oh man, I've never even heard this...I'm not a real Goo fan...ahh." Okay, so it wasn't that bad, but I felt bad for not having heard it. They did so great together too. Then Johnny came back out and was trying to break a guitar. He had a little trouble, but he finally was able to. lol
The Goos left right after that, so I didn't get to meet them. Maybe next time.
I was soo excited for the rest of the night...what am I saying, I still am! I definetely have to go to many more Goo concerts.