As I write these words in the spring of 2025, we are in the midst of a period of heavy soaking rain in my part of the world. It started raining yesterday afternoon and has not stopped since. The weather forecast predicts that it will continue raining all through this day and into tomorrow. The rain we are having is not a mere sprinkle; instead it is a heavy, driving rain that is helping colour the grass and trees a deep, rich rainforest green. This period of rain has nothing to do with climate change or any particular damaging storm such as a hurricane or flood or tornado. Instead, it is the typical kind of rainstorm that comes with spring time in Canada. I am thankful for the water that this storm is bringing to my lawn and newly planted gardens. My rain barrels are filling up. My daily schedule has quieted from my busy outdoor work in the yard and now concerns itself with quieter indoor pursuits today. My aging body welcomes that relief. It is all good. The only dissenting opinion comes from my youngest daughter. Flush in the middle of her teenage years, she views this stormy weather with disdain. Makeup freshly applied. Stylish, trendy clothes put on. She is ready to be seen at school by potential beaus and peers alike. But the weather threatens to dampen her spirit and ruin her look for the day and that has her muttering and grumbling. A drive to school is proffered. Heaven forbid she be forced to don a raincoat and/or carry an umbrella….that would be embarrassing, Dad! So off she goes, safe and dry in the comfort of a car. On the short drive to school, we pass several other students seemingly less fortunate than my daughter. They have had to walk to school and are in the process of becoming completely drenched. They will soon appear in the hallways of academia that passes for highschool, dripping fat droplets of water onto the floor. Their clothes will be saturated and will cling to their skin. In time, they will become chilled, even though the temperature is in the teens on the celsius scale. But, at least they won’t be any more embarrassing a sight than many of their peers. As ridiculous as it seems to me now through the hindsight of aging, I remember those teenage days when getting soaked to the bone on a rainy spring day was par for the course. Being wet it seems is part of being young; especially when you are privileged enough to have done so by choice. This all reminds me of one of modern rock music’s most memorable live concert moments. It concerns a band called The Goo Goo Dolls and their biggest hit song called “Iris”. So sit back in the warmth of your homes. Enjoy being safe and dry. Here is the story of one of the most iconic live moments in modern concert history.
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band that first formed in Buffalo, New York in the mid 1980s. The band consisted of singer John Rzeznik and highschool pal Robby Takac and a rotating cast of supporting players over the years. Initially, The Goo Goo Dolls aimed to be a punk band in the mold of those they emulated such as The Dead Milkmen, Bad Religion and NOFX. As young musicians, they often acted in supporting roles on punk concert bills whenever those legendary bands would travel through the Buffalo area. In time, The Goo Goo Dolls developed a local following and became a source of pride for their fellow citizens of the city of Buffalo and the surrounding area. The Goo Goo Dolls could have done what many local bands do and simply play cover songs from their heroes and still make a decent living out of it all. But that is not what Rzeznik and Takac wanted. They wanted to become music stars in their own right. To do so meant writing and recording their own original music. So, in 1987 they released an album simply called Goo Goo Dolls. While there were no immediate hit songs on this debut album, the band toured it relentlessly. There was something different about playing their own music live as opposed to just performing cover songs. The band’s new music was embraced by their local fans. Soon enough, the band gained the confidence that came with discovering that their creative output was being viewed as worthy by fans, old and new, alike. More albums ensued. A positive cycle of critical attention followed. By the time the band released their fifth album called A Boy Named Goo, they had become so attuned to how to write songs for their fans that they finally had a breakthrough hit song called “Name”. “Name” was a Top Ten hit song on rock radio stations all across America and the world. The album went two times platinum. From that point on, the hometown pride of Buffalo, New York were a nationally known, up and coming rock band to reckoned with.
Not only were The Goo Goo Dolls coming to the attention of music fans across America, they were also catching the eye of film producers in Hollywood. John Rzeznik’s songwriting style had evolved from his early punk leanings and had come to possess a greater level of storytelling to it. This evolution in song structure caused the music of The Goo Goo Dolls to become more commercially successful. This mainstream music success caused Hollywood producers to begin considering The Goo Goo Dolls as being possibilities for writing songs for movie soundtracks. One of those Hollywood types who came calling was a director named Brad Silberling. Silberling was fresh off directing a movie called Caspar that was based upon the character of Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Silberling’s next project was to be a retelling of the Wim Wenders 1987 film Wings of Desire. This new film would end up being called City of Angels. This movie starred Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan. It would also star popular television actor Dennis Franz of Hill Street Blues fame. The plot of City of Angels revolved around the idea that celestial angels watch over us, as humans, as we live our lives on Earth. Cage starred as one of those angels. One day he watches as a medical surgeon played by Meg Ryan fights to save the life of a patient on her operating table. The patient ends up dying, through no fault of the doctor. Ryan’s character is distraught at having lost a patient she tried so valiantly to save. Nicholas Cage’s angel wishes to comfort the doctor and ends up developing feelings for her in the process. This causes a crisis within the mind of the angel. Ultimately, the angel decides that the love he feels for his human subject is greater than his feelings of obligation to being an angel and he gives it all up for the chance to become human as well. Cue the violins.
When consideration was given to putting together the soundtrack for the film, several rising music stars were invited to preview the movie and then, to submit original songs for consideration. At the time, the biggest name was that of Alanis Morrissette. Morrissette was fresh off the enormous success of her album Jagged Little Pill. She ended up writing a song that also became a hit for her called “Uninvited”, which you can listen to here. Other artists who wrote original works for the City of Angels soundtrack included Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan, U2 and a band on the rise named The Goo Goo Dolls. John Rzeznik submitted an original song that he called “Iris”. This song was named in honour of folk music legend Iris Dement. The funny thing about this song is that nowhere in the movie is there a character named Iris nor does the song ever mention anyone having that name. Yet, “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls became their biggest hit song ever, making it all the way to No. 1 on the charts. When playing live, “Iris” is usually the song that The Goo Goo Dolls choose to play as their finale. It is a soaring piece of music that tells the story of having a love that makes you feel alive. It is a great sing-along song and is hugely popular with audiences who enjoy belting out the chorus along with the band.
This brings us back to the rain.
If you have any amount of goodness in your soul at all then you always reserve a special place in your heart for those who stood by you along the way, especially way back before you first became popular. A band’s first fans are often viewed as being their true fans because they were there from the earliest of days, long before fame and fortune came to call. Those original fans were the ones whose support helped to fuel the dreams of a young band just starting out on their musical journey. John Rzeznik and Robby Takac always remembered where they came from and the fans that helped launch their career. So in 2004, they decided to host a Fourth of July concert for their fans from the steps of the architecturally beautiful City Hall building in downtown Buffalo, New York. No longer a supporting act on the bills of other more established bands, this time The Goo Goo Dolls were the headliners. They were the conquering heroes returning to the place where it all began for them. They were stoked to perform and so were their fans. But much as it was this morning in my house with my teenage daughter all made up and ready to go, Mother Nature had other plans for The Goo Goo Dolls and their fans. When July 4, 2004 came along, so did a thunderstorm. Long before The Goo Goo Dolls were to take to the stage, the deluge began. The band was advised to cancel the show and spare the thousands of fans who showed up from getting any wetter than they already were. But fortunately, there was no thunder or lightning as part of this storm. If there had been then the decision to perform or not would have been taken out of their hands. Instead, it was only rain. Lots of rain! Big fat drops of soaking rain! The Goo Goo Dolls looked out at the fans who stood in the rain and felt a debt of gratitude swell up within themselves. They decided that if the fans were willing to get soaked in order to pay tribute to their local heroes then what right did the band have to bail. So, the show went on in the pouring rain. Several times the band had to stop to deal with water that was accumulating on stage and/or that was interfering with their ability to play their instruments. But never once did the band want to abandon the show. In the end, a DVD was created of the entire concert. The music video of the band singing “Iris” in the driving rain ended up going viral and stands as one of the most visually arresting music videos in modern rock music history.
There is something joyous about moments of profound personal connection. That concert in the rain is one such moment. It is a time when a band gave everything it had for their fans and their fans gave everything they had in reply. Knowing that the things we create or possess have meaning for others is why many people do what they do. It is why The Goo Goo Dolls performed in a downpour for their true fans. It is why cinematic angels followed their hearts in order to bask in the warm glow of loving another. It is also why teenagers walk to school in the rain and spend the day in communion with other dripping wet teenagers, too. When my daughter demanded a drive to school this morning so she could remain dry and maintain the peak perfection of her look, she doesn’t know it but she is already acting more like her old dad than she is a trendy teen. Little does she know that getting soaked in the rain is a rite of passage for many as they pass through adolescence. It is only with age and maturity that we lose that desire and become people who own umbrellas. Can I have the soul of a punk rocker if I own an umbrella? Btw, I do own an umbrella. All that I know is that somewhere along the way through my life’s journey, I developed a preference for being dry. In some ways, that makes me sad. The touch of the rain upon my skin might just be the tonic for what ails me. Sometimes the connections we make are with people, like the fans of a band or the people we love. Perhaps what I need most is to connect again with the rain. Wish me luck. Lol.
The link to the video for the song “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls from the original motion picture soundtrack of the film City of Angels can be found here. ***The live version from their 2004 Buffalo concert can be viewed here. ***The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for The Goo Goo Dolls can be found here.
The link to an interview with John Rzeznik and Robby Takac about that rain-soaked concert can be found here.
The link to the movie trailer for City of Angels can be found here.
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