Live Recap: The Goo Goo Dolls with O.A.R. at Northerly Island
While Summer may be winding down, there’s nothing better than an outdoor concert in Chicago (assuming the weather is cooperating). This past Tuesday night, The Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R performed to a packed house at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island—one of the last handful of shows at this venue for the season.
As a teenager in the early aughts, I remember loving O.A.R.’s hit “Love and Memories,” but I went into their show not knowing too much more of their material. While I wasn’t able to sing along to the unfamiliar parts of their setlist, I seemed to be the odd man out, as I saw many of the people around me enthusiastically singing and dancing along to most of the band’s songs. O.A.R’s lineup also included Jerry DePizzo on the saxophone, which added some fun texture to their live sound. Lead vocalist Marc Roberge introduced fan favorite “This Town” as being a “celebration of our travels.” Other fan favorites included “Hey Girl” and “Shattered (Turn the Car Around).”
The Goo Goo Dolls took the stage next, after the sun had set. Their introduction featured a flurry of news reports that appeared on “televisions” on their background screen. The backdrop morphed throughout the night, flickering to different colors and graphics depending on the song—sometimes depicting stars and other times fire.
The setlist kicked off with “Broadway” from the band’s 1998 hit album Dizzy up the Girl, immediately setting the energy on high. We also heard “Slide” and “Black Balloon” from the same album in the early part of the set, which kept up the tone of nostalgia. For the latter of those songs, actual black balloons bounced around throughout the crowd, creating a tangible effect to accompany the song.
Johnny Rzeznik sang the majority of the songs on their 24-song set, but occasionally Rzeznik swapped the lead vocals duty with bassist/vocalist Robby Takac for songs like “Bringing On the Light” and “Life’s a Message.” Throughout the show, the band also introduced some refreshed arrangements on their popular songs; Rzeznik sang their song “Sympathy” sans guitar, accompanied only by the piano and he also sprinkled in some A capella moments during the performance of “Name.” Before playing that song, Rzeznik also introduced it as the first song The Goo Goo Dolls had played on the radio, saying “that’s when all the trouble started.”
Another highlight of the night included a cover of the late, great Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” which featured Marc Roberge as a guest performer. The icing on the cake for the evening was the group therapy vibes of singing along the lyrics to “Iris” as the band’s closing song—there’s just something cathartic about screaming “And you bleed just to know you’re alive” along with a crowd full of strangers.
Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch The Goo Goo Dolls next here.
