HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (TENNESSEE VALLEY LIVING) - Get ready to party like it’s 1999 -- The Goo Goo Dolls are bringing a case of classic nostalgia to The Orion Amphitheater, and it’s all set to go down Tuesday, August 18.
With hits like “Iris,” “Name” and “Slide” – The Goo Goo Dolls are a household American name that started in the heart of Buffalo, New York.
“At that point, we were living in the same house, sometimes the same room depending on what the income was like,” says founding member and lead guitarist Robby Takac.
In other words, it wasn’t always bright lights and sold out shows for The Goo Goo Dolls. Between cases of writer’s block, challenging team dynamics and late-night gigs at dive bars, Takac often found himself giving a pep talk to Goo Goo frontman John Reznik.
“People ask me sometimes, ‘How do you keep a band together for 40 years?’ And I can’t answer that. But I can answer how you keep ‘em together for four or five days, and then you just keep doing that over and over again.”
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Of course, an even bigger pep talk came in 1998 when Reznik was asked to write the lead song for a new movie, and in just a few hours, the Goo Goo’s hit track “Iris” was born.
“The crazy thing about that song is... the music director rejected the song for the movie,” Takac says. “John ended up going in by himself, just recording the song kind of on acoustic guitar, and that was the song that was in the movie.”
Still, the guys felt they had a hit on their hands with the original cut of “Iris” and chose to release it on their next record -- a decision that would turn them into global superstars.
“If we wouldn’t have put that version on,” says Takac, “we may not be sitting here today.”
Whether he admits it or not, the passionate and committed Takac was truly the “glue for the goo” that kept the band together. Fast forward now 40 years, and his favorite song to perform?
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“I usually answer that with ‘Slide,’” he says. “We play that early in the show usually, and everybody knows it. It’s the first time the whole arena lights up.”
Lit up like a ‘City of Angels.’
Want to witness it for yourself? Sing along and catch The Goo Goo Dolls take the Orion live on August 18!
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