From: Jen

July 24, 1999
GM Place
Vancouver, BC

I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now! I MET the Goo Goo Dolls. The whole thing is surreal and the show was amazing. I've loved them for a year now and this was going to be my very first Goo show. Let me first explain to you my outfit. Take a good look at your cover of Dizzy Up The Girl. The girl on the bed with the green dress with blue butterflies on it and the signature bright pink socks. THAT was me. It took me forever to find a dress like hers, but I did, and I was set. I went to the concert with two of my friends, Kelly and Alana, who they too, were wearing some pretty snazzy outfits. Kelly was wearing a orange colored baseball uniform and Alana had zebra pants and a turquoise top. We wanted to stand out. We met up with newfound friends off a Goo Mailing list, Traci, Maria, Heather and a few of their other friends/families. First off, Traci, if you're reading this, YOU ROCK. Traci is the only reason I got my chance to meet the Goos. Anywayz, as we continue on...

We arrived at GM place around 11:30 and we waited for everyone else to arrive. When Traci came with her sister, she freaked me out, cause she had met the Goos before, and she saw their tour bus parked nearby. We immediately dashed into her car and drove to the bus. It was AMAZING! There it was, the blue tour bus, complete with Elmo doll. LoL. Speaking of dolls, me, Traci, Maria and Heather all chipped in and bought the Goos KISS beanie toys. They were SO cool. Anywayz, we looked all around their bus, tried to peak in (lol) and finally we decided it would be best to head back over to the venue. Traci dropped us off and she went shopping. Me, Kelly and Alana walked to the back of GM place and started chatting up some Goo crew, we managed to get some Goo pics! It was SO cool. And I thought THAT was going to be the highlight of my show.

Time passed and soon, Traci came back, and me and Kelly really had to go to the bathroom. LOL, yes, 'thanks for sharing', but trust me, if we didn't we would have NEVER met them. Traci suggested that we head to the Hotel across from where the Goos tour bus was parked, so we did, and we came up and talked to two girls who were standing across the street from the Goos tour bus. We decided to talk to them to see if they've seen any Goo. 'YES'! They said, they saw Johnny about 5-10 minutes ago walking down the street and they got autographs and all. I was in shock. AHH! JOHN RZEZNIK WAS HERE 5 MINUTES AGO!!!! So we went over to their tour bus and their driver was there, waiting for the Goos to arrive....we started talking to him, his name's Wild Bill, and he is quite a character....: ) We chatted with him for about a good 10 minutes and Traci was like "There Nathan!" and I was in shock. AHH! I asked Nathan if I could have a picture with him and he's like "sure!" and so I did. It was SO WEIRD. Then he went into his bus and about 6 minutes later Traci again was like "There's Robby!" I almost had a heart attack. I couldn't believe it!! I asked Robby for a picture and he's like "of course!" I asked him to sign my CD cover of Dizzy Up the Girl. I said to him "Do you like my outfit?" and he like "Ni-ce....!" ahh! Robby then signed Kelly's baseball sock (they all did, I think they really got a kick out of it!) Then I told Robby to watch out for KISS dolls on stage. And he's like "I want Gene!" and Traci's like "oh, you got him!" Oh first of all, you'll have to understand that I was in such utter and complete shock, that anything happening around me was totally blocked out. All I knew was I just met Robby Takac and I turned to Traci. "I need a hug!" she yelled and I did too! It was CRAZY! "One down, 2 to go" she said. I was going to die.

Then I thought to myself 'I wanna spot the next one!' and no sooner said, about 5 minutes later I turned around and practicly RIGHT beside us was Mike. I was like "OH MY GOD" and, oh my god, I'm just thinking back to the whole thing, and I still can't believe it, I'm re-living the moment right now, so I might not be making too much sense!!!! I was like "it's Mike!" and I turned to Traci and I was like "It's Mike!" later Kelly told me, although I didn't see this myself, Mike smiled when I recognized him. : ) I asked him again for a picture and GOD they are SO NICE. Mike was like "Sure!" so we took at pic together and I asked him what I thought of my outfit as he signed my CD cover. "It's nice!" I was in Goo heaven. Then Kelly said to Mike "I'm going to the show tonight!" and Mike's like "so am I!" lol. YOU KICK ASS MIKE. I told him to watch for the KISS dolls too, and he thanked us : ) Later on, Mike came back out, eating some chocolate bar-type thing and I couldn't believe it. I just stared at him. I was COMPLETELY lost for words, but there he was, just standing there, eating. So while he was eating I just blurted out, "Can I take a picture of you?" and he smiled for the camera, but his mouth was FULL of food, it was SO hilarious. Then a little while later, Mike went back into the bus. Then it was even worse, cause there was only 1 Goo left, and it was inevitable that we were going to meet John Rzeznik.

John took FOREVER to come out. Although he prolly only took about 10-15 minutes, it seemed like an hour. Finally, I looked across the street and since Robby, Mike and Nathan all came out carry suitcases, I expected the same from John. And there was a guy, wearing a baseball hat pulling a suitcase. I couldn't believe it. I turned around, facing Kelly and Traci and I wasn't sure at first, but I said to them "It's JOHN!" and Traci said "are you sure?" so I turned to look again, and I couldn't see him at first, cause there was about 2 people walking in front of him, but then they moved a bit and YES, that was JOHN RZEZNIK. Have you ever had that feeling that you were so excited you were about to explode?? THAT was me. I couldn't believe it. I waited until he came a little closer and I was freaking out. Am I gonna call him Johnny of John? Lol, I think I ended up calling him both. Again, I asked him for for a picture and he said "of course!" he looked at me and said "Put some shoes on." LoL and I asked him "Do you know who I am?" and he's like "You're the girl from the cover of our album." And I was like "YES!" then I got him to sign my CD cover, as he was doing this, a million things came into my mind and I just ended up saying "I love you" and he's like "Thank you!"

now, I know, everyone out there who hasn't met them yet always fantasize about the day they DO, and they think about all the things they'd say to them and what not. I'm telling you now, FORGET IT. It's not gonna do you ANY good when you are face to face with them. LOL. Your mind will go blank and TRUST ME, what you're about to read will make you think I'm COMPLETE INSANE. LORD KNOWS JOHN DOES. LOL. I then asked him "Can I do something really crazy?" and he's like "Yeah, sure." And I started pulling up his sleeve to reveal his tattoo 'the Dream'. I just REALLY wanted to see it okay? LoL. Then I again blurted out "can I take a picture of it?" and THE LOOK ON HIS FACE IS ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!!! He's like "go for it" but he was, GOD, I can't even describe it, he thought I was INSANE, but he was laughing about it and I was like "Look at the camera!" but he couldn't! He thought I was NUTS! Then I took the pic anyways and I thanked him and said "I'm crazy" and he just had this BIG smile and nodded! Then phew! To make up for the craziness, I told him about the KISS dolls and he was SO happy! He was like "Thank you SO much!" Then after he got in the bus we ran into Traci's car and waited for them to take off. We followed right behind them and blasted Long Way Down with the windows down. They too had theirs open, so I know they could hear us. I freaked out in the car, I was shaking, and I yelled over the music "I forgot to ask for a kiss!" and Traci turned to me and said "So did I!!!" it was hilarious. See, you can't remember these things when you meet them!!!

Finally we arrived to the Venue again, and to all those wondering "what about Alana??" then, oh my god, THANK god for the following. We had no idea that we would end up meeting all the Goos in our bathroom excursion! But she went to look for us, since we were gone for a really long time, and she ended up meeting them on her way! It was incredible! It was so cool, cause everyone in line met them practicly, and I've never seen so many happy goobers! : ) LOL.

The gates opened and we jetted to the front, and BADABOOM, FRONT ROW BABY. It was SO incredible. I couldn't believe it. I wondered if I would be able to stay front row throughout the show, incase the crowd got too rough, but OH YES I DID ; ) The crowd was SO GOOD. There was a little bit of pushing and well actually, someone did get hurt, but she's okay now : ) During Fastball, which me, Kelly and Alana aren't fans of, we had the KISS dolls with us, cause Maria didn't have floor seats, so she gave Alana her KISS doll to throw on stage. Heather was right behind me. It was so cool! So then, we were rocking out with the KISS dolls and near the end of Fastball's set, they played 'The way' and this one part the guitarist closest to me, started doing this really weird dance, and I started to mimic him and he saw me, and I didn't see this, but Alana and Kelly told me he pointed at me, and then he kept looking at me! (That I saw) LOL. Whoops. Well anywayz, the Sugar Ray came on, and I don't really like them either, but it was weird, but I'm just gonna leave it as a "well energized set" cause I don't wanna say anything bad, cause they did put on a good show, just not one that appealed to me. : )

Then The Goos came out, I've read SO MANY reviews and I've seen performances on tape, so I knew they would come on the stage and rip right into Dizzy. The lights went out, and I almost couldn't breathe. Then I saw Mike and Dave's shadow on stage and then the lights started flashing and whizzing and there they were. They started playing Dizzy and I was screaming SO MUCH and singing along to EVERY word. They all looked great, and Robby, MAN, he's the best! Throughout the show, he kept looking in our direction making faces at us, and John ran over to our side a million times. (we were close to left center) it was SO amazing! The Set was incredible, the lights, the backdrop, smoke, the works.

Then during one of Robby's songs, I can't remember which one, I'm pretty sure it was Full Forever, Johnny came to our side of the stage and he wasn't strumming so I threw my KISS doll at him. You shoulda seen his face! He smiled and went to pick it up, and while he was doing this Heather and Alana tossed their's up too! You shoulda seen his face!!!! He was SO happy!!!! When he got them all, he picked them all up and raised them in the air! I got a pic of that too! (yes, I was a little obessed with taking pictures that day) One of the most wonderful things they did during their set was the lights all went out, and then on the very first chord of Naked, a brand new backdrop fell down and it was GORGEOUS. It was silver and it fell down right to the beat of the song. I screamed SO many times out of the fact that they were there. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. FINALLY!!!

When they started to play black balloon, (since we were very prepared) we brought some black balloons and tossed them up on stage and I had some bubbles with me (which didn't go very far, sorry to the security guard who I kept blowing the bubbles to in the face!!! LoL) so I started blowing bubbles like CRAZY. I blew them throughout the whole song and it was SO MUCH FUN! I was SO moved by Iris. I was so happy to finally hear it live for myself. After all, this was what brought on the insanity. I was in awe the whole time, and the whole crowd sang along....it was surreal. : ) then soon they lowered their TV screen and played their "Greed in Action" movie which I thought was just HILARIOUS. I was laughing through the whole thing and then the lights when out a final time and then they started playing the beginning of "Just the way you are" as they started that, MILLIONS of paper confetti things fell from the ceiling in strips of gold, white, green, blue and red (red?) it was SOOOOO beautiful!!! I caught a WHOLE bunch of them. And then the TV screen was lowered one last time and everyone except Robby and John left the stage.

Now this was my first Goo show, but I'm no stranger to what that means. It's two days in february time, meaning.....last song. The lights dimmed with spotlight hitting only the two of them. John introduced this song as "A song about a girl, a boy and a telephone" they are SO UNBELIEVEABLE....I LOVE the live punk version of that song SO MUCH, the TV screen had a scenes of a woman talking on the telephone...then when the song was over, John and Robby tossed their guitar and bass into the screen and yelled Goodnight. The crowd went INSANE. The lights then started to turn on again and people began to file out. All I did was look at the stage for awhile and I said to myself "Please, come back out...please..." my eyes started to fill with tears, but I held them back and I smiled, I saw my very first Goo show and I even met them! IT WAS THE CLOSEST TO HEAVEN THAT I'LL EVER BE!!!!