Goo Goo Dolls & Train
June 20th, 2019
Fiddler’s Green Ampitheatre | Greenwood Village, Colorado
Words and photos by Tyler Hypnarowski
The official start of summer seemed to come a day early this year for music fans in Colorado as the Goo Goo Dolls and Train brought their co-headlining tour to Fiddler’s Green Ampitheatre Thursday night. With a cloudy Rocky Mountain backdrop behind the stage, the show began with a short set from Allen Stone, a Washington state born singer who mixed soft blues with poppy rhythms as commuters filed into the venue after battling Denver’s vexatious traffic.
Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johhny Rzeznik announced early on that it would be a night full of sing-alongs, before he plucked the opening notes of their 1998 hit “Slide”. Rzeznik, along with the band that also includes fellow founding member and bassist Robbie Takac, stayed true to that proclamation as they ran through radio throwbacks “Black Balloon”, “Big Machine”, “Here is Gone” and “Iris” while mixing in newer tracks including a trio from 2016’s Boxes album; “Free of Me”, “So Alive”, and “Over and Over”. They also showcased their new single “Miracle Pill”, set to be released today. The new song isn’t going to turn any heads, but it’s always nice to see artists keeping things fresh both in the studio and on the road.
While Rzeznik may be the frontman, Takac is the band’s engine. Taking laps around the stage and jumping around barefoot just the same as he has been doing for over 30 years, the Buffalo, New York native was in great spirits all evening. “Denver! Greatest smelling city in the country.” he proclaimed.
About halfway through their set, Rzeznik had the increasingly growing crowd eating out of his hands. The singer appeared to get emotional and claimed to be “having a moment” at the peak of their 1995 breakthrough hit, “Name”, even lamenting he forgot the words to the final line before circling back and completing it all in dramatic fashion. Whether its an act done at every show or was unique to the night, it’s tough to blame him for making the most of those blissful moments he shares with fans.
The band was able to get the crowd up and moving one last time when they closed their set with the blue collar anthem “Broadway” from that aforementioned 1998 record. Missing from their set was any deep cuts and pre “Name” material, including their earlier post-punk influenced songs that have gotten at least one slot in their setlists over the past few years.
Last fall was a die hard’s dream as the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Dizzy Up The Girl album, playing it in its entirety along with early gems like “Fallin’ Down” and “Two Days in February”. But with so many hits it’s understandable, and a co-billed tour like this requires some setlist sacrifices.
Train would keep the sing-alongs going as they came out with the feel-good 2003 single “Calling All Angels” just as the last ray of light was dwindling. With smiles all around the stage and a seemingly loose and playful feel between the band, their show was all about having a good time and that vibe seemed to translate well with the crowd. Three songs into their set while in the middle of “If It’s Love”, lead singer Pat Monahan caught a cell phone from the crowd, snapped a selfie onstage and tossed it back while singing “cell phones up in the air, just be glad we made it here alive, on a spinning ball, in the middle of space…” These guys clearly love their jobs.
The band had even more reason to joyous, as lead guitarist and Boulder, Colorado native Luis Maldonado was making a bit of a homecoming. Maldonado had a chance to show off his chops two times during the guitar solo of their 1999 hit “Meet Virginia”, an ode to an anxious, eccentric, yet surprisingly relatable girl. After the normal solo, Monahan ribbed the guitarist for not going all out in front of his hometown friends, to which he responded with another extended solo much to the delight of both his bandmates and the roaring crowd.
The party also included some special guests, as they brought out Allen Stone for two songs including a nice take on an abbreviated version of Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”. Shortly after, Johnny Rzeznik emerged from backstage for a cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” that saw both frontmen trading verses. It was a nice tribute to a lost legend and further proved these two groups to be a good fit for a summer tour together. The show then ended in grand fashion with the crowd singing along to “Drops of Jupiter”, the band’s 2001 hit from the album of the same name as confetti shot out from cannons onstage.
This tour sort of offer you two different eras in radio hits and nostalgia. Goo Goo Dolls hit the stage first and deliver an hour of 90’s classics with a bit more of an edge, before Train takes over and heads into the 2000’s and beyond with a bit more finesse. A great start to summer time in the Rockies…
See the remaining tour dates here.
