Goo Goo Dolls

The Goo Goo Dolls have been a background name on my Classic Rock stations since the late ’90s, so I thought worth checking out their show at the Santa Barbara Bowl last night (9/6/25). The first 40 minutes of their set left me untouched: it was five slightly middle-aged grungy guys making a lot of noise–no melody or charm. It was the lead singer John Rzeznik’s show, but he had an average voice, little charisma and a good opinion of himself. His one attempt at telling a story went off-track. He then excused the band and went acoustic, at which point the evening picked up. He did a nice version of “Name,” the one (and only) GGD song I could see adding to my playlist. Then the band came back, the monotonous driving guitars resumed, and at the 70-minute mark of the two-hour set I departed.
The night was not a waste, however, for the opening act was Dashboard Confessional, and they were both fun and good. Their lead singer, Chris Carrabba, had fewer airs and was a better singer than Rzeznik: the distinctive sound of the band comes largely from his unusual voice. Unlike Goo Goo Dolls, I was a fan of Dashboard Confessional when they hit in the early 2000s and recognized more of the music they played (granted, they had 55 minutes for their set, as opposed to 120 for GGD). Their sound was tighter. Just as important, they had stage presence: one of their guitar players was in the back, jumping and running in a way that was endearing, not distracting. Best was their backup singer, Abigail Kelly, the only woman on stage all night. She sounded good, looked great and moved ferociously in time to the music. I could have watched her all night and was glad I’d brought my opera glasses. The difference in the two bands, for me, was epitomized when DC played their big hit, “Vindicated.” A young blue-jeaned sprite in the row in front and to our left had a dance routine she must have prepped at home for years in front of a mirror before exploding it for our benefit, but mostly hers. She lived the song and was going to show it. (A videographer noticed and started filming her before it was over.) The sheer joy she felt, and shared with her friends, reminded me what great music can do. And this was that.