From: Ron Egatz

The Academy
Nov 21, 1995
New York City, NY

The Goo Goo Dolls played here tonight, with two opening acts, the first
of which may or may not be called Universal Honey. The second opening
act (which actually got billing) was Ash. They specialized in white
noise, 13 year old groupies, a drummer who looked like the egghead baby
chicken from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, and a bass player who puked
on the side of the stage just before the last song.

The Goo boys rocked as usual, and were out to impress because there was
a lot of record company tightasses watching, and the show was recorded,
with Robby spewing some shit about it winding up on an album. Four
encores happened, one of which was a surprise acoustic set, where they
did "Girl" and "Personality." The band apologized for playing the
numbers again after earlier, standard electric versions. Rumor has it
the Goos and their management were hopeful the acoustic numbers can
prove the boys from Buffalo can turn the powerful distortion tunes into
something suitable for an MTV Unplugged gig. These tunes performed the
second time went over in a big way, as most people could actually hear
what the fuck was going on, including most of the lyrics. One longtime
fan said to me "They should think about doing their whole show that
way." I agree. It was easily just as jumping and powerful, while leaving
your head attached.

The last encore of one song was dedicated "to Lance Fucking Diamond",
and all good Goo-heads will know what tune they ended the show with,
including bringing up a nimrod from the audience who attempted to belt
out the Lance Diamond solo spot. The kid offered Johnny a Lifesaver.

Band news for longtime fans: Johnny's hair is now blonde, and both
Johnny and Robby should think about cutting back on the late night
snacks.

A good time was had by all, except the guy who puked.

And I got this note from Ron on 12/9/97:

Since I saw that gig you may be interested to know The Academy is no
longer there. It was a great old vadeville-era joint with the seats
ripped out for stage diving and general admission. The Ford Motor Company
tore the Academy down to put up a souless pre-fab Broadway theater.
"Showboat" opens soon. I guess that about sums it up best.

Big trouble! I made a mistake. It's not Showboat. "Ragtime" opens any day
now. Just think: people will be sitting through crap like that, where the
righteous once stood and cheered two guys running around with bare feet
and long hair. I'd rather shuffle off to Buffalo.