Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 5, 2022

The vagaries of the conditions of a global pandemic have obvious wreaked havoc with live performances, which even today can seem kind of tenuous at times, at least as evidenced by announced concert dates which then have to be repeatedly rescheduled due to either outbreaks among the general populace or at times among the artists themselves. There have been a number of rather inventive "workarounds", and such legends as Eric Clapton have gone to pretty exorbitant lengths to bring out releases like Eric Clapton: The Lady in the Balcony - Lockdown Sessions (and as some may have heard, Clapton is actually one of the artists who has recently had to cancel and reschedule a bunch of dates due to testing positive for the virus himself). Goo Goo Dolls may arguably not be in quite the same echelon as Eric Clapton, but their attempt at a virtual concert is a bit more like a "real" live performance than the somewhat tamped down (if still musically adventurous) set done by Clapton in what I termed "the spectacular surroundings of Cowdray House in West Sussex, England" in my Eric Clapton: The Lady in the Balcony - Lockdown Sessions Blu-ray review.

Some online news outlets, including right here, announced this release as coming in 4K, but when I saw it was a Cleopatra Entertainment offering, I had my doubts, since that label can't even seem to muster the forces to offer lossless audio on its ostensibly "music related" releases (and, sadly, that's once again the case with this release). Despite the fact that this is not a 4K UHD release, the actual show is quite energetic and enjoyable, and the band is in good spirits and sounds great both vocally and instrumentally. The staging utilizes so-called "virtual XR", which (as can be gleaned at least somewhat from the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review) adds a definite hallucinogenic flair to the visual side of things, but kind of nicely in that regard, it also means that stage lighting tends to be very good, allowing decent looks at the band. The one kind of odd decision with regard to this final product is the assumedly canned sound of an audience. Wasn't this streamed to individuals? Were there microphones in each and every viewer's home capturing their responses? It may supposedly add an air of "authenticity" to things, but it frankly actually pointed out the "virtual" nature of things to me more solidly than simply letting the band play might have.

The set list for this performance is:

1. Indestructible


2. Big Machine


3. Miracle Pill


4. Here is Gone


5. Smash


6. January Friend


7. Slide


8. Black Balloon


9. So Alive


10. Acoustic Number 3


11. Not Broken


12. Name


13. Stay With You


14. Dizzy


15. Fearless


16. Life's a Message


17. Bringing on the Light


18. Tattered Edge / You Should Be Happy


19. Broadway


20. Autumn Leaves


21. Iris

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cleopatra Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1, so not only is this not a 4K UHD release, it's also interlaced, as can sometimes be the case with "live" concert videos. The results here are often quite appealing, though there is some recurrent banding noticeable due to the many lighting variations, and the entire "XR" setting gives things a kind of hazy, greenscreen-ish quality at times, as can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots. The suffusion of the palette is one of the inarguable strengths of this presentation, and a glut of really vivid colors floats across the screen repeatedly throughout the concert. Close-ups offer good fine detail generally, to the point you can pretty much "read" the top of John Rzeznik's chest tattoo. The interlaced presentation can offer occasional combing artifacts in some of the faster movements like guitar strumming or whacking that drum kit.

Note: It's perhaps salient to note that the Cleopatra masthead on the disc is still encoded via MPEG-2, perhaps suggesting this label is still catching up with the high definition era. I also encountered one kind of weird authoring glitch where after I had gone to the Bonus Submenu and then returned to the Main Menu, the Main Menu would not let me actually choose any of the items on it.

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I frankly continue to be completely baffled by the fact that a label with the supposed imprimatur of Cleopatra Entertainment continues to release its music related Blu-rays with only lossy audio, but that's the case again here, as mentioned above in the main body of the review. Longtime readers of my reviews know that I'm kind of a curmudgeon in terms of the audio presentations on Blu-ray discs, which I personally feel should match the "technology" of the video side of things, and so my score above reflects my disappointment in not having at least one lossless audio option. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks included on the disc (there's not an actual Setup Menu for audio, but you can toggle between the tracks with the Audio button on your remote) are fine in and of themselves, and both offer decent fidelity and actually rather smart mixes (with vocals forwards, as I tend to prefer), but curmudgeons like I am may still be wondering what lossless audio could have added to the sound. There are no subtitles available on the disc.

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (HD; 00:55) is a brief peek at some of the technologies utilized for the show.


• Slideshow (HD; 4:48)


• Trailer (HD; 3:00) also has a (weirdly IMHO) separately authored 10 second Cleopatra logo.


• CD of the concert is included.

Additionally, trailers for other releases from Cleopatra Entertainment are included and the Digipack also houses an insert booklet with stills and song credits.

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Goo Goo Dolls: Grounded with the Goo Goo Dolls has some definite pluses, including the band itself and this setlist, along with a rather inventive and kind of goofily enjoyable "XR" aspect to the staging, but it also has at least one minus for audiophiles, in that only lossy audio is offered. Fans of the band who didn't pay to see this streamed may want to check this out, and for them the good news is if you can look (and/or hear) past the lossy audio, technical merits are generally fine.