Goo Goo Dolls : Opening Act
06 Nov 2006The opening act for the Goo Goo Dolls was a guy by the name of Tommy(ie?) Zwick(e?).
The light show was okay. Actually it was really good for an opening act. It worked well with the floor of the show.
I’m pretty sure that hidden somewhere behind the music and the mumbling that the lyrics might have been good. As I watched him perform I thought of an active Bob Dylan. Mumble, mumble guitar twirl mumble, mumble Oohhhhhh Yeeeeeaah eeaah eaaah! mumble finishing strum.
Tom seemed a little musically lost to me. One song he was a jazz man. The next song he was folk. He tossed in a little acoustic alternative. And at the end he played some hard rock. I give him kudos for his last song. It was really wonderful. Captivating and leaving the listener wondering if there might be more to the singer and the music. Both Holly and I agreed that we should give his album a listen. Though she definitely liked his music more than I did.
For me, the most interesting thing that came out of seeing Zwick play was the conversation afterward. A couple of days ago Holly and I were talking about how we interpret food. She is very much an artist when it comes to food. When she eats something she picks it apart. She appreciates the subtle undertones of flavour and can discern an amazing list of ingredients from something just by tasting it. More than once we’ve gone to a restaurant, had a dish, and then a while later she has recreated it at home from “flavour memory”. I on the other hand categorize food as “Mmmm Mmm Good”, “Enh”, and “Bleh, Gross”.
When it comes to music though, our roles are reversed. I appreciate each portion of the show. How was the entrance? Was the band visibly into the music? Is the sound mix off? Is there good showmanship? How is the inter-song banter, if there is any? Did they get the crowd into it? etc.
This all came about because I was picking on the fact that the drums were overpowering the bass line and the vocals were mixed too low. That is one of the reasons I am willing to give his CD a listen though; to see if it is mixed better.
I give Mr. Zwick a 6/10