Ring in the New Year with The Goo Goo Dolls
By Randy J. Klodz
The Goo Goo Dolls will be making their fourth Chicago appearance in the past six months, when they ring in the new year with an exclusive New Year’s Eve show at the House of Blues. One could wonder what attracts a well-known band to the bone chilling weather of Chicago, of all places, for an exclusive show in late December, but a look at the Goo Goo Dolls’ roots should make some sense of the matter.
“Having grown up in New York state, people automatically assume that our brains are akin to the folks in New York City,” said Goo Goo Dolls bassist and co-vocalist Robby Takac from his California home, as he and his band were preparing to play a radio show in Anaheim. “I think as a band we’ve always felt that there’s more of a kinship with the Midwest than there was with the East coast,” he said, “Chicago certainly has a lot more to do with Buffalo than Manhattan or Hollywood.”
Though Takac also resides in California, he’s spent many of his years in the cold climate of Buffalo, N.Y. “We’ve got to get some sort of extra points in the after life for putting up with that kind of nonsense our whole lives,” Takac said of residents that must deal with uncomfortably cold winters.
Playing on New Year’s Eve is nothing new to the Goo Goo Dolls, and playing this Chicago show will become what’s sure to become another long string of consecutive New Year’s Eve shows. “Last New Year’s was the first New Year’s I didn’t work in 16 years in being in this band--that was always a night for us to play,” Takac said.
Instead of taking stage and playing host to hundreds of fans, Takac spent last New Year’s Eve at his home, watching television while sitting on his kitchen floor with his wife. “We were looking at the television and it was like ‘3-2-1 Happy New Year’s’ and we’re kind of looking up at the TV and that was pretty much the extent of our celebration,” he said. “We had a glass of champagne and we went to bed.”
Though the cost of the show—the listed ticket price was $150 each—may be a bit pricey, Takac offered some consolation. “You are in a room full of fans, if nothing else, he said. “You know it’s going to be a good show.”
Show time is listed as 9 p.m. for this exclusive 21 and over concert. The House of Blues is at 329 N. Dearborn St., in Chicago. Join the Goo Goo Dolls in celebration of the New Year were sure to have enjoyed a Chicago night’s vibe with the Goo Goo Dolls. “We’ve been lucky enough to pick and choose where we go most of the time on New Year’s and we just really like the vibe in Chicago.”
| The Goo Goo Dolls | Photo: Olaf Heine |
