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March 25, 2007
Goo Goo Dolls at SHU
The set list
Dizzy/Slide/Feel the Silence/Black Balloon/January Friend/Tucked Away/Name/We’ll Be Here (When You’re Gone)/Become/Stay With You/Smash/Without You Here/Broadway/Better Days/Iris/Let Love In
Encore: Acoustic #3/Give a Little Bit
I went and checked out The Goo Goo Dolls’ show at Sacred Heart University’s Pitt Center Friday night and now realize that campus concerts may be better left to the students.
It’s not that I felt old spending time with the thousands of college kids in attendance, it’s just that I don’t really have the patience for standing for more than three hours to watch a band I’m not that into. Not to knock The Goo Goo Dolls – the band is really good at what it does – it’s just that the music doesn’t grab me like it obviously moves the young women.
It’s a credit to the band that 20 years into its career, it can still be considered relevant on campuses across the country. Frontman and object of the ladies’ affection John Rzeznik is 41, old enough to be the father of most of the people in the gym, yet he still has a connection with the younger set.
That’s pretty remarkable when you think about it. Love them or hate them, but in this era of disposable pop music and even more disposable pop stars, The Goo Goo Dolls has spanned generations.
As for Friday night’s concert, Rzeznik, Robby Takac and Mike Malinin did put on a high-energy show and the crowd loved it. The radio-friendly band has so many hits that the fans never had to wait more than two songs without hearing another Top 10 single.
The Goo Goo Dolls played 18 songs in the 90-minute performance, eight from the group’s latest record, 2006’s “Let Love In.” The “Gutterflower” record from 2002 was virtually ignored – with the exception of two Takac tracks, “Smash” and “Tucked Away” – but they played seven cuts from 1998’s “Dizzy Up the Girl,” including a boisterous Rzeznik-led sing-along on the mega-hit “Iris.”
Rounding out the set was the band’s first huge song, “Name,” from 1995’s “A Boy Named Goo” album.
Like I said, standing for three hours to see a band that’s not among my favorites was a bit much. But I kind of feel the same was about The Goo Goo Dolls’ music as I do John Mayer’s: I don’t go out of my way to listen to it and I don’t go out of my way to not listen to it. It’s fine and some of it’s catchy, but you can’t consider me a huge fan.
Opening act Augustana played for 45 minutes and was quite good, but the songs took on a sameness after a while as each song seemingly bled into the next. I’m admittedly not familiar with the band, but the crowd seemed to be, especially with the closing number, which I assumed was the group’s hit song “Boston,” though I could be wrong.
The major problem with Friday night’s concert was the sound. The Pitt Center, if you don’t know, is where Sacred Heart plays basketball and it’s a huge gymnasium. It was not made for concerts and the acoustics were horrible. I made a point of walking around to several areas of the gym and the sound was not good in any of them.
But it was what it was, a concert at Sacred Heart geared toward the SHU students and anybody else who felt like dropping the $25. It wasn’t a sellout, but with no bleachers pulled out in the gym, there were an awful lot of people on hand.
Sacred Heart will host another concert at the Pitt Center on April 27 featuring Hinder. I expect the circumstances to be the same (only with a heavier band), so now that I got a taste of the SHU concert scene, so do you.
For Hinder tickets ($20) or information, call 371-7846.
Posted by Sean on 4:37 AM | Comments (560)
March 19, 2007
Blown away
During Friday's nasty weather, it apparently was meant to be that I go to the Fairfield Theatre Company and see Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout.
My windshield wipers stopped working right when I pulled into a parking space outside the venue and, strangely, worked again after the show and died again as I pulled up to my apartment.
It was worth it as the concert, no pun intended, blew me away.
Hummel kicked it off with a killer set, that included the title track from his great new album, Ain't Easy No More.
Next up was Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, who thrilled the crowd by taking a walk off-stage while he played and sang without the benefit of a microphone.
Rounding out the solo performances was the legendary Charlie Musselwhite, still at the top of his game and still seeming to enjoy every minute of his time spent performing.
I didn't stick around for the encore, which had all three players going at it, if only because I didn't feel like waiting out the 30 minutes or so it would take for the trio to sign CDs in the lobby. The 80 or so souls who braved the snow, rain and sleet, were treated to a magical evening.
I, however, was just happy my wipers magically started working so I could get home.
Posted by Sean on 6:07 AM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2007
More on Nickelback
There were two things I neglected to mention about Nickelback's concert at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport Wednesday night, one good and one ridiculous.
The band did a touching tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell, formerly of Pantera and Damageplan, who was gunned down on stage by a deranged fan a couple of years ago. The song "Side of a Bullet" from the group's last album, "All the Right Reasons," was in honor of Dimebag and included an unreleased guitar solo from Dimebag. The record itself was dedicated to him.
The tribute included video of Dimebag being interviewed and performing as the band played "Side of a Bullet." It was moving in a way you wouldn't expect from a hard-rock tune.
Now to the absurd. At one point during the show, Nickelback had someone wheel out a cart filled with cups of beer, which they then proceeded to toss into the crowd. Aside from the obvious problem of a minor catching a cup, everybody in the general area of where the cups landed were getting doused with beer. How is that fun? I'm just glad I was well out of range because I wouldn't want to have been one of the "lucky" ones walking out into the cold night drenched in beer.
Posted by Sean on 6:00 PM | Comments (1)
March 8, 2007
Nickelback in Bridgeport
The set lists
Three Days Grace
Animal I Have Become/Riot/Just Like You/Pain/Take Me Under/Never Too Late/Home/I Hate Everything About You
Nickelback
Animals/Woke Up This Morning/Photograph/Because of You/Far Away/Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting)/If Everyone Cared/Never Again/Savin’ Me/Someday/Side of a Bullet/How You Remind Me/Too Bad
Encore: Rockstar/Figured You Out
As a lifetime resident of the Greater Bridgeport area, it was quite a thrill to see the Arena at Harbor Yard packed to the gills and rocking Wednesday night, even though I don’t claim to be a big fan of any of the three bands on the bill.
That being said, I also don’t run to cringe or rush to change the radio station when a song by Nickelback or Three Days Grace or Breaking Benjamin comes blasting out of my speakers.
But I can hear why Nickelback — critics be damned — sells millions of records and fills arenas coast to coast. Most of the tunes are catchy in a “grunge-lite” kind of way and hard to get out of your head.
Wednesday night’s show saw Nickelback at its best with a set list that was just hit after hit and the crowd, which was heavy on teenagers, ate it up, singing along and waving their glowing cell phones (this generation’s version of the lighter) during the slower numbers.
An amusing moment for me occurred during Nickelback’s cover of Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting),” which seemed to befuddle the younger fans and please the parents in attendance who were just there to look after their kids.
Though never the darlings of the music press, Chad Kroeger and his mates in Nickelback do what pop music is supposed to do and that’s connect with the masses. Looking at the sea of young faces, it was quite apparent that the Canadian rockers had the audience’s undivided attention.
And they put on a heck of a rock extravaganza, complete with fireworks, explosions and flames galore. It was as if they ripped a page from the rock-star primer and followed it to the letter, almost to the point of annoyance.
Pyrotechnics? Check.
Drum solo (ugh)? Check.
Saying how great it is to be in (insert town here)? Check.
Telling the crowd how great it is, ad infinitum? Check.
Kroeger was a bit much with his imploring the crowd to “make some [bleeping] noise” after every song. Do today’s crowds really need to be prodded so much to cheer for a band? Shouldn’t the band give the crowd something to yell about instead of just saying, “make some [bleeping] noise” after every song?
All three bands were guilty of this in one form or another. Breaking Benjamin frontman Ben Burnley had the crowd giving it up for Three Days Grace and Nickelback; Three Days Grace’s Adam Gontier had the crowd screaming for Breaking Benjamin and Nickelback; and, naturally, Kroeger returned the favor.
The thing that bothers me is that Wednesday’s crowd — and most crowds for that matter — don’t really need the boost. It’s usually a safe bet that the people that dropped $50 per ticket are happy to see you.
The night started with Breaking Benjamin, probably the heaviest band of the three musically. I missed the beginning of the band’s set — parking spots were apparently at a premium for the sold-out event — but I liked what I heard, especially the new single, “Breath.”
Three Days Grace could be termed the night’s most pleasant surprise. Though in the same realm as Nickelback, singer Gontier and his tight band brought to life the songs from its new disc, “One-X.” TDG started off with its hit single, “Animal I Have Become,” which had the crowd singing along, and then tore into my favorite song from the album, “Riot.”
BB’s Burnley joined Three Days Grace to sing along on “Take Me Under” and later in the set, Gontier took a page from Bono’s book by shining a spotlight on the crowd. That got a rise out of the crowd, especially, I assume, the person in the floor section that showed off his inflatable sex doll.
Stay classy, Bridgeport.
Posted by Sean on 12:00 AM | Comments (4522)
