It Begins.....

The weekend of goo started many months before we ever set out on
 the road.  We had had the tickets for months  (I bought
 Allentown in June, Syracuse in May), and it was agony waiting
 for the concerts to come!  The day before the trip, my friend
 and I went out and bought little gifts to throw onstage for the
 guys:  little stuffed animals for each of them, with a ring
 tied to John’s, Pez on Robby’s and a golf pin on Mike’s.  They
 were really cute, and we figured they could fly easily.  My
 friend also bought some gifts, like a stuffed Koala for Mike.
  However, she realized about 3 hours into the trip that she had
 left them at home!
So, on Saturday, September 2nd, we set out at 10:00 AM.  Bags
 packed, motel booked, gifts on hand, and crazy shirts ready to
 go.  (The day before we had made T-shirts with the saying ”Goo
 Goo Dolls—Wanna know MY ‘Name’?” on the front and out names on
 the back under a picture of the guys. They were crazy).
  Anyway, with our directions clutched in my hands  (Thank you,
 MapQuest), we set out into unknown land.  The drive to NY took
 just about 5 hours, as planned—even though we got sidetracked
 looking for a Mickey D’s and wasted 15 minutes looking for the
 highway.  We arrived in Syracuse at 3 PM.  We found our motel
 easily, but they had a surprise for us.  There was no record of
 the credit card number we used to get the room, so we had to
 find a bank and pay cash, 30 minutes later.  Sooo….we finally
 got our room.  We chilled for a couple hours, showered, and
 prepped for the show. Even as I put on my concert shirt, blew
 up some “black balloons” for the car, and got my cameras hidden
 in my purse, I wasn’t very excited.  This baffled Katie, who
 had been bouncing off the walls since 4 AM.  I think the
 reality of seeing john, Robby, and Mike never hit me til we
 REALLY saw them.  But, that came later.  So, around 5 PM, we
 headed to the fairgrounds.  We hunted around for the tour bus,
 but it was hidden behind a HUGE fence.  Damn.  So, around 6 PM,
 we found our seats.  Nosebleed!  But, we were right in the 
center and had a good view of the stage.  Also, I lucked out
 when it came to cameras.  A little while before we went in,
 Katie asked the security guard about their policy.  We could
 have cameras, without flashes, but no sound equipment.  Well I,
 being a devoted Goober, had a tiny tape recorder with me!  Now
 what?  Well, I hid it under the gifts and hoped for the best.
  When we went in, a guard asked to see the bag.  Just as she
 was getting to the camera and tape recorder, the guard we had
 talked to said, “Oh, they’re ok, we already saw them.”  So, my
 guard gives me the bag back and smiles.  I was home free!  We
 went in, and I got two Goo shirts, including the awesome
 Buffalo one (wearing it right now!). We were pretty cool while
 we waited for the show to start, but the second Tonic started
 rocking, I was on cloud Nine.  They were so good1  Especially
 their guitarist/back-up vocalist Jeff.  Damn, he was fine!
  They played for about 45 minutes, and really put on a good
 show.  A great moment was a story that the lead singer told to
 introduce their song, “Mean To Me”.  It’s about people treating
 other people like crap.  So, he says, “Don’t let people call
 you names.  When I was a kid, people called me a loser, they
 called me stupid, they called me a pothead…well, that part was
 true, but hey.  I just have to say one thing:  go to your High
 School reunions.  Because when I went to mine, all anyone
 called me was a ROCK STAR!"” They went right into a rippin'
 version of the song.  How awesome!  They wrapped up the set
 with “If You Could Only See”, and went offstage.  For the next
 half hour, all I could think was”  I’m going see Goo, I’m gonna
 see Goo.”  At 9 PM, it happened.  That familiar opening…that
 driving rock…John Rzeznik, Robby Takac, and Mike Malinin took
 the stage, joined by Dave Schultz and Nathan December, of
 course.  They tore into “Dizzy” and the crowd went nuts!  The
 set list went something like this:  Dizzy, Long Way Down,
 Slide, January Friend, Black Balloon, Full Forever, Naked,
 Name, Flat Top,  Fallin’ Down, Iris, Just the Way You Are,
 Burnin’ Up, and Two Days In Feb.  The moment really sticks out
 in my head about that night, it was all rocking.  I’ll save the
 stories for the next show!
Forward to 11 AM, the next day.  We are now beginning the 4-hour
 drive to Allentown, PA.  This doesn’t thrill my friend, who is
 driving a stick shift without a break, just like the day
 before......

 MORE TO COME!

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