Goo Goo Dolls: Tiny Desk Concert

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:16:54 +0000

Lars Gotrich | Novermber 19, 2025
Here’s the thing: Goo Goo Dolls songs endure. Formed almost four decades ago, the rock band’s artistic ambition has always been connection — pop anthems that can be blasted from car speakers and in karaoke bars, and sung en masse. These songs stick around, but never wear out their welcome.

This set is bookended by songs from Dizzy Up the Girl, the 1998 album that found the sweet spot between catchy arena rockers and heartfelt power ballads. “Slide” is particularly suited to the space as John Rzeznik’s voice, which has aged gracefully into the velvet rasp he’s known for, rings clearly across the song’s careening melody. “Feel the Silence” is a sturdy and perhaps little-known gem from 2006’s Let Love In. “Not Goodbye (Close My Eyes),” too, is a meditative ballad waiting to find more ears.

But how could Goo Goo Dolls not close with “Iris”? Originally written for the City of Angels soundtrack, revived by Deadpool & Wolverine and consistently discovered by listeners seen by its romantic melodrama, “Iris” has returned from the brink of winking irony and been once again embraced for its desperate sincerity. At the Tiny Desk, our small office crowd joins the thousands who have been inside of this song and felt something real.

SET LIST
“Slide”
“Feel the Silence”
“Not Goodbye (Close My Eyes)”
“Iris”

MUSICIANS
John Rzeznik: vocals, guitar
Robby Takac: bass, background vocals
Jimmy McGorman: keys, piano, background vocals
Brad Fernquist: guitar, mandolin
Craig Macintyre: drums

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Lars Gotrich
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer: Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez
Production Assistants: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton