Goo Goo Dolls headline July 4 weekend concert series

by Joshua Maloni
Dispatch, May 14, 2004
Tribune, May 20, 2004
Sentinel, May 22, 2004

Buffalo’s traditionally warm, muggy Fourth of July just got a little stickier.

Buffalo natives John Rzeznik and Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls returned home Friday to announce the band will headline a special two-day concert July 4 weekend. The free concert in Niagara Square, put together by Clear Channel Entertainment-Buffalo and Buffalo Place, Inc., will be recorded and included on a Goo Goo Dolls DVD, to be released later in the year.

Acts slated for Saturday, July 3, include Guster, Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds. The Goo Goo Dolls will perform Independence Day night, with fireworks afterwards.

“It’s a real privilege to be back here and doing this,” Rzeznik said. “When we got the opportunity to play on the Fourth of July, in Niagara Square – there’s going to be a great fireworks display – it’s going to be a massive party and a great way to showcase the city.”

Takac added, “Everybody at City Hall has been super supportive.

“Thank you for letting us have a rock concert on your front steps – that’s pretty brave of you!”

Before hitting it big nationally in 1995-96, with “A Boy Named Goo” – featuring the smash hit “Name” – the Goo Goo Dolls performed at Thursday at the Square in 1993 to an outdoor crowd of more than 10,000. Since then, the band has recorded seven albums, had songs featured in television and film, and sold more than 10 million records.

Despite countless requests – often accommodated – to stop home and perform, coming back to Buffalo never grows tiresome for the band.

“It’s like going home to see your mother,” Rzeznik said. “That’s where you got your start; that’s where you were nurtured. You know … people come back and re-energize the town, but it’s the same kind of thing, it’s like we get re-energized and get our faith back in what we’re doing.

“There’s a depth of character with the people here, you know. We’re all scrappers and survivors. You win by tenacity and a work ethic. That’s the greatest lesson that we were taught here, and we’ve taken that out to Los Angeles.”

At the press conference, Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello declared July 4 as Goo Goo Doll Day in the Queen City.

“… On a great holiday, in Buffalo and Western New York (it’s) always special, but now it’s going to be even more special,” Masiello said. “We’re going to jam-pack Niagara Square this year when we bring home Buffalo’s own, Buffalo’s very talented group, the Goo Goo Dolls.

“All of us are very proud of their tremendous successes. They represent our city and our people very, very well.”

The Goo Goo Dolls major breakthrough came in 1998, with its third major album release, “Dizzy Up the Girl.” The disc featured songs “Iris,” “Slide” and “Black Balloon,” and sold more than six million copies, while garnering the band three Grammy Award nominations. The Dolls followed that up with 2002’s “Gutterflower,” which featured the top ten song “Here is Gone.” The band, which includes Rzeznik on vocals and guitar, Takac on bass and Mike Malinin on drums, is currently writing songs for its next album, which could bow some time this year.

“With a fickle music industry, the Goos have real staying power,” said Tony Colucci of Buffalo Place. “Buffalo, New York, as we all know, is a hard-working city, with some genuine people. We’re proud to be part of rock and roll history, because we’re associated with the two guys at the far end (of the table – Rzeznik and Takac).”