Delivering the good with the 'Goo'

Before their fame and mainstream success, when touring in Boston, the Goo Goo Dolls would avoid rundown and dilapidated hotels by spending a few nights in the Boston College residence halls. With the help of their former manager, whose brother was a BC football player, the band briefly experienced BC life firsthand.

But over the past 20 years, BC has become a completely different campus, almost unrecognizable for anyone who has not set foot on the Heights in that long of a time. Similarly, the Goo Goo Dolls are an entirely different band than they were 20 years ago. Friday night, at the Orpheum Theatre, the band continued its tour in support of Let Love In, and fans witnessed the mature and finely tuned Goo Goo Dolls in their prime.

The concert did not pick up steam until the fourth song, "Black Balloon," resounded throughout the theater. At this point, the lighting on stage reached an early pinnacle as lights began to flow down banners behind the band while lead man Johnny Rzeznik serenaded fans with his acoustic guitar.

Throughout the show, Rzeznik's demeanor walked a thin line between peculiar and charming. With his hair slicked back and wearing dark sunglasses, Rzeznik claimed he was trying out his Bono impression, but later confessing he went to the dentist earlier and was "f-d up..." On the other hand, however, Rzeznik bridged the gap between artist and audience more than most performers care to do these days, at one point taking a fans cell phone to ask her friend why she was not at the show. Maybe it was the Vicodin, but overall Rzeznik maintained a melancholy attitude throughout the show, unlike bassist Robby Takac.

Takac always had a smile on his face as he ran across the stage jumping around slapping his bass. His emotion had no boundaries and brought out the true magic behind the band's classic songs such as "Name," "Iris," and "Sympathy." But more importantly, Takac brought a great deal of enthusiasm to the new songs off Let Love In.

In an exclusive interview over the phone, The Heights spoke with Takac about the band's new album, the future of punk, and his time at BC.

"The vibe we were looking for was a little more hopeful," commented Takac on Let Love In. The band's previous release, Gutterflower, was written after the devastation of Sept. 11., and had what Takac considers a cynical feel.

This hopeful tone was most present in "Better Days," and the crowd's positive response was evident within the first few chords of the song. But Let Love In still features a few songs that stay true to the Goo Goo Dolls punk roots.

"I was a '70s AM radio kid," mentioned Takac, citing influences like Kiss, Cheap Trick, etc.

With regards to today's punk state, "I hope these kids have a chance to grow beyond their influences." But it's becoming increasingly clear, and Takac agrees, that record labels often hold bands back to fit a cookie-cutter form. But as the past 20 years have proved, the Goo Good Dolls have gone above and beyond any restrictions placed upon them in the early years.