The St. Augustine Amphitheatre set the stage for a great combination of three modern day popular rock bands. All at one point have held the peak spot on the music charts one time or another.

Openers the Plain White T’s proved to be a great opening act. These guys had the audience tapping their toes and bopping their heads along to their up beat and sugary pop melodies. The band had a huge hit years ago with the genuinely lovely and heartbreaking Hey There Delilah. The audience members that wouldn’t have known the band by name instantly recognized the song with a loud cheer. Other songs played included 1,2,3,4 and Rhythm of Love.

Co-headliners Daughtry brought up the middle slot for the evening. Though they played to a considerably smaller audience than I expected, Chris Daughtry’s large vocals and considerable stage presence kept all those there absolutely enthralled. Belting out hits like Waiting For Superman, Home and the power ballads It’s Not Over and Over You, these guys had the audience singing along and on its feet throughout their entire set.

Coming into this show I didn’t know what to expect from the Goo Goo Dolls. I’ve long known them as a band that had quite a few smash ballads on Top 40 and mainstream radio over the years. It’s easy to forget these guys were once a staple on alternative radio stations years ago when they first broke out in the mid 90s.

Coming off the heals of a successful acoustic tour where they played to smaller, more intimate audiences, guitarist and frontman John Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac showed they were rockers at heart. They offered up a show with a pleasantly great pace, where a vast amount of the 22 song set list consisted of up beat numbers and all out rock anthems.

The Goos threw in all the hits; Slide, All That You Are, Iris, and newer hits like Come To Me. Name could be considered one of the slower songs of the set. Being their breakout single in 1995, Rzeznik told the audience that was the first time he’d heard one of his songs on the radio. He said two things came to his mind at that moment; the first was “Wow, they’re playing our music on the radio!” The other was “I’m quitting my shitty job” which gave the audience a nice laugh. All this combined with the great light display and stage set up that allowed Takac to run around like a kid in a playground; these guys know how to entertain their audience.

The guys came out for an encore with a great version of Broadway and sent everyone home in an upbeat mood.