Goo Goo Dolls: Johnny Rzeznik (vocals, guitar); Robby Takac (vocals, bass instrument); Mike Malinin (drums).
Recording information: Buffalo, New York, USA (07/04/2004).
The Goo Goo Dolls' 1998 hit "Broadway" tells of the air of quiet desperation looming over a main thoroughfare in the group's New York hometown, Buffalo. The lyrics pull no punches in their depiction of the souls wandering through a dying industrial city ("It always rains like hell on the loser's day parade"). Yet when the trio announces the song during a packed, rainy outdoor performance on July 4, 2004, captured on the CD/DVD set LIVE IN BUFFALO, the crowd erupts and sings along.
This spirit defines the city and the band it helped shape; the Goo Goo Dolls played show after show in Buffalo for over a decade before becoming superstars. It's an earned sense of hopeful isolation which helped the group stand out in the late '90s from numerous other adult-alternative acts' driving pop songs and lilting ballads. The Goo Goo Dolls always have been an excellent live band, and LIVE IN BUFFALO is a rousing collection of all of their hits and many beloved album tracks, delivered with the fierceness of the rainstorm thundering around them. The show (presented on both the CD and DVD) closes on an energized take of Supertramp's hit "Give a Little Bit," the studio version of which opens the audio disc.
