Review: Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul shine at Red Butte
Ed Roland (front) and Will Turpin of Collective Soul perform in September of 2016 at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
John Rzeznik, foreground, and Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls perform on Sept. 14, 2016, at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik gestures to the crowd during opener "Over and Over" on Sept. 14, 2016, at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
Robby Takac (bass and vocals) of the Goo Goo Dolls performs Sept. 14, 2016, at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
The Goo Goo Dolls perform "Slide" on Sept. 14, 2016, at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre. Pictured are John Rzeznik (acoustic guitar), Robby Takac (bass) and Korel Tunador (keyboards).
Collective Soul lead guitarist Jesse Triplett performs at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre in 2016.
Ed Roland of Collective Soul performs in September of 2016 at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
Collective Soul lead guitarist Jesse Triplett performs Wednesday at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre.
Collective Soul guitarists Jesse Triplett, left, and Dean Roland perform Wednesday night at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre. Collective Soul opened for the Goo Goo Dolls.
Ed Roland, left, and Dean Roland of Collective Soul perform at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre on Wednesday.
Goo Goo Dolls guitarist and lead singer John Rzeznik may travel the country touring and living the rock star dream onstage, but never let it be said that he can’t relate to the common man.
Giving a sly nod to the band’s penchant for producing its share of beautiful pop ballads that tend to resonate with the fairer sex, Rzeznik introduced one of them on Wednesday night at Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, “Come to Me,” by saluting diligent husbands who were there supporting their wives — or something like that.
“There’s always that poor guy who got dragged to our show by his wife,” Rzeznik said. “Is he here tonight?”
A shout in the crowd indicated at least one affirmative response.
“I had to sit through a whole … Maroon 5 show once for my wife, so I know how you feel, brother,” Rzeznik said. “Maybe we can do ‘Free Bird’ in the encore or (something).”
The Goo Goo Dolls may not have followed through on that threat, but they did deliver an energetic and entertaining 95-minute set on Wednesday on an increasingly chilly evening. Not only did the band hit on some of its most well-known material, of course, but also featured five songs from its current album, “Boxes,” — including the show-opening “Over and Over” and encore-closing “Long Way Home.”
Rzeznik, the band’s primary vocalist, played acoustic guitar most of the evening as the band performed a bevy of hits, including “Slide,” “Here is Gone,” “Black Balloon,” “Better Days” and an extended version of its No. 1 megahit “Iris,” from the 1998 “City of Angels” soundtrack.
Bassist Robby Takac took over lead vocals for four songs on the evening — coming in two separate back-to-back segments of the show — and when he did it proved to be quite a sonic departure. Rzeznik’s voice lends itself well to the band’s smooth Top 40 sound, whereas Takac’s lead vocals give the Goos much more of a punk persona. It was a definite change of pace, and one that bolstered the set with rocking numbers like “Smash,” “Bringing on the Light,” “Already There” and a cover of Prince’s “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.”
Takac’s lead vocal spins allowed Rzeznik to strap on an electric guitar and work the audience, including the throngs located at each far side of the stage.
In an interesting juxtaposition, the band played its initial breakthrough hit, “Name,” back to back with its current single, the upbeat “So Alive.”
While introducing “Name,” Rzeznik marveled that something he wrote on his sofa as kind of a last-ditch effort to kickstart the band’s career could end up having such an impact on his life.
“The show is beautiful, and it’s great to wear cool clothes and all — but no song, no show,” Rzeznik said of “Name.”
Goo Goo Dolls closed their main set with a rousing “Broadway” before returning to the stage for the obligatory encore.
“You knew we were coming back,” said Rzeznik with a knowing smirk before launching into the anthemic “Long Way Home.” “You knew we forgot to play one.”
“Forgetting to play one” might be an apt conclusion to draw from the way-too-short opening set of Collective Soul — except that it would have to be expanded to “five or six.” The alt-rock band from Atlanta has a deep catalog of hits and album material to delve into at this point in its career, but was only onstage for 45 minutes.
A main strength of Collective Soul is that the band can be both aggressive and plaintive, and that ability was on display Wednesday. The band opened with three straight hits — “Heavy,” “Why Pt. 2” and “Better Now” — as things got off to a rocking start.
The band was all business through most of its show — most likely due to its abbreviated set. Lead singer and frontman Ed Roland, who is normally quite talkative in concert, didn’t speak to the crowd until seven of the band’s 10 songs were in the books.
Collective Soul has always been about spotlighting new material in concert, and Wednesday’s show was no different. Despite the time constraints, the band eschewed some of its most popular songs in favor of two tunes from its most recent album “See What You Started by Continuing,” and even doubled down on its commitment to new material by performing a song that won’t even appear on an album until next year. You have to admire that kind of confidence.
“Listen to new music,” Roland exhorted the crowd, “whether it comes from a young man, or middle-aged men like ourselves.”
That would be easy to do if everything sounded as good as Collective Soul’s new material.
The new songs included the rocking “Contagious” and the melodically catchy “AYTA (Are You the Answer).” “All Our Pieces” is the song to look for sometime next year.
Roland is an entertaining frontman, with a variety of visual stage moves to go along with his fantastic vocals. Like Rzeznik, Roland also plays a lot of acoustic guitar.
Collective Soul’s guitar tandem of Dean Roland and Jesse Triplett were right on the mark. Dean Roland, Ed’s brother, pounds out most of the band’s driving rhythms while Triplett delivers the leads. Both exhibit that rock guitar player stage stance — you know the one, with knees bent and a slight upper body lean back that just exudes an air of coolness.
Will Turpin (bass) and Johnny Rabb (drums) rounded out the band.
The band did a one-verse intro of “Amazing Grace,” which segued into a jamming extended version of “Shine.” That led to the closing two numbers, “December” and “The World I Know.”
In the world I know, Collective Soul definitely deserves more time on stage.
GOO GOO DOLLS
Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre
Sept. 14, 2016
Over and Over
Long Way Down
Slide
Big Machine
Rebel Beat
Here is Gone
Black Balloon
Smash
Bringing on the Light
Name
So Alive
Naked
Souls in the Machine
Better Days
Already There
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Come to Me
The Pin
Stay With You
Iris
Broadway
Encore
Long Way Home
Performance time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
COLLECTIVE SOUL
Heavy
Why Pt. 2
Better Now
Contagious
AYTA
Amazing Grace (Intro)
Shine
All Our Pieces
December
The World I Know
Performance time: 45 minutes