Fast forward to New Years Eve 1998. I had been looking forward to this show for a while now, also hoping they wouldn't play Iris (only because it has been overplayed on radio and it is a slow song and i was ready to party and bring in the new year). Turned out that they played Iris and it was fine (I needed a little break from jumping around anyway).
They seemed to mix the new and the old perfectly and kept the energy high. Some friends of mine said the sound wasnt so good from the side, but from in the middle where i was it sounded great.
The only disappointment to me was the crowd. I guess up front there was a mosh pit and people enjoying the show, but back where i was the crowd was dead. The guy behind me knew the words to Slide and Iris and that was it. No one was moving, except to get out of the way of the people leaving. And it seemed there was a constant flow of people leaving (mostly families who i am guessing didnt get what they expected).
Hopefully the Goo Goo Dolls dont think that this is a normal phoenix crowd and never returns (although, the crowd at the festival the last time i saw them also sucked by starting a small riot and burning everything in sight). I really hope to see them in a normal setting/venue, one that will have true fans and people ready to rock.