Goo Goo Dolls at the Mississippi Valley Fair -- August 8.
Saturday, August 8, 8 p.m.
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
With the artists blending their chart-topping, pop-rock talents for the August 8 grandstand show at the Mississippi Valley Fair, the fair's Saturday night will boast performances by Goo Goo Dolls, whose "Iris" spent 11 consecutive months on the Billboard Hot 100, and Neon Trees, whose first single "Animal" climbed to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Alternative Songs chart.
Formed by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac in Buffalo, New York, in 1986, Goo Goo Dolls have quietly broken records, contributed a string of staples to the American songbook, connected to millions of fans, and indelibly impacted popular music for three-plus decades. Beyond selling 15 million records worldwide, the group has garnered four Grammy Award nominations and nearly a dozen platinum & gold singles combined, and seized a page in the history books by achieving 16 number-one and top-10 hits. As a result,they hold the all-time radio record for “Most Top 10 Singles.”
Thus far, A Boy Named Goo [1995] has gone double-platinum, Dizzy Up The Girl [1998] five-times-platinum, and Gutterflower [2002] and Let Love In [2006] both went gold as Something for the Rest of Us [2010] and Magnetic [2013] bowed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200. Their music continues to reach new audiences around the world and rack up platinum and gold statuses – including the recently platinum-certified “Slide," “Black Balloon,” and “Better Days” – and has been covered by everyone from Taylor Swift to Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers.
Among a string of hits, "Iris" clutched number one on the Hot 100 for 18 straight weeks and would be named “#1 Top 40 Song of the Last 20 Years.” On the heels of going viral on TikTok, the track recently achieved seven-times-platinum status and re-entered the Billboard charts, yet again proving the timelessness of Goo Goo Dolls’ illustrious catalog.
Formed initially by childhood friends Tyler Glenn (vocals, keyboards) and Chris Allen (guitar, vocals) who both grew up in Murrieta, California, Neon Trees made its first home in Provo after Glenn and Allen moved there from Southern California, eventually adding Branden Campbell (bass guitar, vocals) and Elaine Bradley (drums, percussion, vocals) to the lineup.
The band's first release, the extended play Start a Fire, was released in 2009. The same year, they released their debut single "Animal,” The single peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. "Animal" was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Neon Trees released their debut studio album Habits in March 2010. The album peaked at number 113 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and also hit the Australian and United Kingdom albums charts. "1983" and "Your Surrender,” the album's second and third singles, peaked in the top 30 of the Alternative Songs chart. The band's 2011 single "Everybody Talks" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their first top-10 hit on the chart. Picture Show, their second studio album, was released in April 2012; it peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200, and Neon Trees has subsequently released 2014's chart-topping Pop Psychology, 2020's I Can Feel You Forgetting Me, and 2024's Sink Your Teeth.
Goo Goo Dolls and Neon Trees perform their headlining engagement on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds grandstand stage on August 8, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $50 (free with Fun Card purchase), and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-5338 and visiting MVFair.org.
