John Rzeznik, the Goo Goo Dolls’ frontman, avoids lecturing his audience during live performances.
The 60-year-old singer-songwriter aims for fans to leave his shows feeling “happier and better for it,” so he refrains from sharing his political views between songs.
In a chat with Rick Beato on his Everything Music YouTube channel, he said: “I’ve got people from every walk of life, fans and friends from all backgrounds, and every political stripe.”
“And I always stress, we have one thing in common, because we’re living in strange times, and that’s that we’re all here to see a show.”
“I’m not going to lecture anyone about anything.”
“I’m going to play a bunch of songs and when we leave, we’ll be happier and better for it. That’s the whole point.”
Rzeznik says he doesn’t care about his fans’ political or religious beliefs, and he’s simply glad to see them in the crowd at his shows.
He added: “I don’t care who you’re voting for, and I don’t care if you go to church.”
“We’ve all got one thing in common, and that’s a start. You have to work within that little Venn diagram.”
In July, veteran rocker Sir Mick Jagger stated he’s not interested in turning Rolling Stones gigs into political events, preferring fans to have a good time and forget the stresses of daily life.
Speaking on The New York Times’ podcast The Interview, he explained: “The bottom line is that my job in the live music world is to make sure those who attend have the best time they possibly can, and for two hours forget all their problems and the problems of the world.”
“Their mortgages and whatever. Just so they can have the best time.”
“Your job is to make them go wilder. You don’t want to lecture them.”
In 2018, Alice Cooper admitted he wants his concerts to be an “escape from the world” for fans.
He told The Guardian at the time: “I want my shows to take you as far away as possible from politics.”
“It’s supposed to be an escape from the world we’re living in.”
