Goo Goo Dolls To Get Intimate in Huntington

With a touch of New York punk still in them, the boys from Buffalo have grown in more ways than one.

Evolving from the punk scene and small clubs like CBGB's and Maxwell's nearly 25 years ago, to larger venues and worldwide fame, the Goo Goo Dolls plan to get intimate with the audience for two shows in Huntington in the coming days.

"We figured it's going to be so nice, that we should do it twice," says co-founding band member Robby Takac. "We added the second show and we are going to do our best to come there and rip it up."

In an interview with Patch, Tacak said the band always has a great time in the Northeast — especially in venues like the Paramount, where it's all about the sound.

"It's just about enjoying music together," Tacak said, of the 15 old and new songs on the set list for Saturday and Tuesday. 

Opening for the band will be Dix Hills native, .

"We'll play some stuff from the new record that people might not be familiar with and hopefully we'll turn them on to some new music ... and a couple of songs that we think just whoop their butts."

And that's pretty much what they've been doing for more than two and a half decades since the punk ballroom days, following the lead of the Sex Pistols and the Clash.

Formed in Buffalo in 1986 by Tacak and lead singer John Rzeznik, the band hit it big in 1995 with their fifth album, "A Boy Named Goo." They followed it up with the monster hit, "Iris," in 1998 from "The City of Angels soundtrack. The song spent nearly a year on the charts — 17 weeks at No. 1.

It took nearly a decade, but the band found their sound and has continued to evolve.

"All of a sudden we were on a bus and selling a million records," said Takac, the bassist for the band. "That went on for a little while and it got bigger and bigger and now we are in a unique position."

With dramatic changes to the recording industry, Tacak says the Goo Goo Dolls have lived through it all with a consistent presence. 

"It doesn't escape me how amazing that is, said Tacak. "It blows my mind, actually."  

And yes, ... it's still there.

"I think there's a little punk rock in everything we do, that's where it came from," says Takac, who sang lead in the early days. 

Their newest and ninth album, "Something for All Of Us," reflects the common current of struggles in the world today. 

"If you're being honest about what you write and writing about the things that go on around, you would probably reflect a lot of those things," said Takac. "But I'm starting to see some optimism as well which I think is great. I don't think it was really there three years ago when we were coming up with ideas for the record. I think people are starting to see a break in the gloom right now and I think that that's a pretty good notion these days."

Drummer John Malinin joined the band 15 years ago, replacing George Tutuska.

The band members all lived in Los Angeles until about two years ago, when Takac returned to revamp a recording studio in Buffalo which the band uses for much of their material.

"My family is all on the East Coast, so I prefer to be there most of the time," said Tacak.

Reznik has recently relocated to Sea Cliff in Long Island.

But don't worry Jet or Giant fans, the fact that the'yre from Buffalo shouldn't steer you away from catching a show. 

"We couldn't be less football fans," joked Tacak, who has rocked NFL venues through the years. "We played guitar when we were kids, so we were kind of the other kids."

But we pull for the Bills, once in a while, said Takac. "There from my hometown, man."