Goo Goo Dolls Concert Review

by Curtis D. Tucker

Last night, August 5, the Enid Event Center hosted the Goo Goo Dolls, Daughtry and Plain White T's. I'm normally running around taking photographs or video and don't really pay attention to an entire show. This concert was a anniversary gift to my wife so I was able to sit and experience the entire show.

This is not an in depth review of the music but just some quick thoughts on the bands and concert overall.

We arrived at the Enid Event Center at 7:30pm and could already hear the Plain White T's performing on stage. Although the tickets stated the concert would begin at 7:30pm it had been moved up to 7:15pm. I do not know what the PWT's played at the beginning but we caught their last two songs which fortunately for us were their best.

They rocked it on "Hey There Delilah" and "Rhythm of Love". Their crowd interaction was fun and they had much of the audience singing parts of Delilah. I thought the PWT's were great and their sound was fantastic. I wouldn't have minded them playing another 3 to 4 songs before they quickly wrapped up their set and they were gone.

They interacted well with the crowd although many sat like statues in their chairs. During Delilah, lead singer Tom Higgenson, had about half of the crowd on their feet joining him on the song. At the end of the song he used an expletive to thank those that stood and sang along. Even though it was early and the entire crowd had not fully shown up yet, there was great support for the PWT's.

After hearing many comments at the end of the show I think the PWT's were the surprise of the evening and many felt like they could have been the headlining group. Hopefully we can bring them back for a concert of their own.

The Event Center began to really fill up just before Daughtry went on. There was a relatively fast set change and Daughtry came out like a rocket. He worked the stage the entire evening and spoke to the crowd between every song. Whether he was kidding or not he mentioned Enid every chance he could and complimented the crowd on being the loudest they'd heard all week. Of course it was their first concert of the week. He later added that Enid was the loudest crowd in the last two weeks.

Daughtry was non-stop with hit after hit mixed in with many songs from their new album. He made it to the edge of the stage multiple times and shook hands and interacted with his fans. Daughtry sang great and sounded much like he does on the radio other than the bass being way too loud. I got the feeling that many people were at the concert just to see him.

Daughtry closed his set after playing much longer than I had anticipated but was called back on stage for an encore. His encore turned out to be more than just one song.

At the end of his encore Daughtry invited a large group of Enid locals onto stage to help sing one of his songs. Once the song had finished he was taking selfies with the girls and giving hugs all around.

There was a huge gap in between Daughtry and the Goo Goo Dolls. The set change seemed to take forever and I feel like the concert lost some momentum. We even had to endure someone vacuuming the entire stage before the GGD's could perform.

Once the music finally signaled the Goo Goo Dolls were about to start, the venue filled up again and looked almost like a sell out. John Rzeznik, the lead singer, came out strong on his first song and flew into song after song grabbing a different guitar each time. He never paused or spoke a word between at least the first four songs.

Unfortunately for Rzeznik there seemed to be some sound trouble because he frustratedly signaled his crew to turn things up and down with arm gestures throughout the evening. At one point he told them to turn him up and boy did they ever. The Goo Goo Dolls were very loud and at times hard to understand. Rzeznik even tossed his earpiece to the side in frustration at one point.

Well into their set, bassist Robby Takac finally spoke to the crowd. By that time I think they had lost many of the concert goers and I noticed many people heading for the door. It was getting late and I'm sure many people were trying to make it home for work the next day.

Robby Takac sang a few songs which could not be heard at all and the crowd thinned even more. We turned around and an entire section behind us had left.

If you left early, you missed the best part of the show. The Goo Goo Dolls finally seemed to get it in gear and once they reached their biggest hits they rocked it. With his acoustic guitar, Rzeznik belted out hit after hit. They may have gotten some sound issues fixed because it began to sound much better. Rzeznik even began to talk to the crowd and stuck an Enid sticker across his t-shirt.

After singing "Iris" the band had the crowd in the palm of their hand and just like that it was over. Fortunately enough of us stayed and we brought them back on stage for an encore. We were trying to guess what song they would sing since we had heard most of their hits. Rzeznik asked a girl in the crowd what song she wanted to hear and she said "Iris". Rzeznik laughed and told her they had already played it and asked if she had gone to the bathroom. He told her that's what happens when you drink beer.

They ended the show with a rocking rendition of "Broadway". Everyone was on their feet and I have to say they pulled it out at the end. The remaining crowd stayed until the last note and cheered the Goo Goo Dolls off the stage. It was just after 11pm when the concert wrapped up and for many that's late on a Tuesday night.

It was another stellar concert in Enid, Oklahoma. The only problem I see in the concert choices coming to town is that their are becoming too many and it's going to get tough for many music lovers to choose which shows they can afford to see. 3 Doors Down is on the way and I'm sure the crew at Global Spectrum already has someone new waiting to be announced.

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