Another beautiful summer afternoon at Bethel Woods highlighted by a fantastic show complete with a large and excited crowd. Headlining this past July 30th performance were well known artists, The Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch and Parachute.



Parachute, an alternative-rock band with a soulful sound, is a band comprised of five talented young men from Charlottesville, Virginia. Parachute consists of Will Anderson on lead vocals, Kit French on the Keyboards, Vocals and Saxophone, Alex Hargrove on Bass, Johnny Stubblefield on Drums, and Nate McFarland on Lead Guitar and Vocals. During their set, they enticed the crowd into dancing on their feet. They performed songs such as “She is Love”, “The Way it Was”, “Ghost”, and the infectious “Something to Believe In" from their current album. They even performed a jamming cover of The Wallflowers hit song, “One Headlight.” At one point during the song “Something to Believe In,” lead singer, Will Anderson, ran into the arena crowd in glorious fashion singing at the top of his lungs all the way to the lawn. By the reaction of the crowd Parachute’s performance has become an instant fan favorite.



Michelle Branch was completely stunning in a black vest, boots and hair flowing down her back. Playing sans drummer, who according to Branch was unable to make it to this concert, she along with her guitarist and bassist played her hit songs, “Everywhere”, “Goodbye to You”, “Breathe”, “Happy Now”, and “Loud Music” flawlessly. Branch also performed two new songs, “Spark”, and “For Dear Life” from her upcoming but currently unnamed album. Prior to the end of her set, Branch mentioned to the crowd her joy of her performing at Bethel Woods and that one of the main reasons she became a performer and took up the guitar was because of Woodstock’s focus of love and unity through music. Branch’s set was intimate and allowed the crowd to respond warmly showing that her spoken words of love and unity through music were at that very moment coming true.


The Goo Goo Dolls are sixteen year veterans in the rock genre with many hits such as, “Name”, “Iris”, "Here Is Gone", "Sympathy", and "Big Machine". They opened their set performing “One Night”, complete with a pulsing light show and a killer drum and keyboard set. The crowd jumped to their feet and began screaming their excitement as loud as they could, as the boys from Buffalo, New York took to the stage. “Slide” was played next as the band smiled at the cameras and the crowd with bassist Rob Takac playing barefoot, singer and guitarist Johnny Rzeznik strumming with ease and drummer Mike Malinin sitting proud in the middle of a fog covered stage filled with multicolored strobe lights. Rzeznick's voice was loud, clear and just as fantastic as you hear on the radio.



After playing these two songs, Rzeznik stoked up the crowd, talking about how excited they were to be there playing getting the crowd revved up for more. After a few moments, Bassist Ron Takac then sang a few songs, leading into some of their well-known hits including “Born to be Free”, “Black Balloon,” while black balloons were being bounced throughout the crowd. The Goo Goo Dolls then performed “Stay With You” and an inspiring rendition of “Iris” featuring blue lights streaming in the background. They played one of their first hits from the 1990’s and a fan favorite, “Name” which everyone in the crowd knew and began to sing along with. The next song up was “Broadway” which they rocked out to for a few extra minutes, with an incredible light display and fog filtering throughout the stage. The Goo Goo Dolls finished off their set with new songs off of their latest album, “Something for the Rest of Us” which came out in 2010, playing the title track as well as “Say You’re Free”.



Then as the last song ended, they said their goodnights with the lights shutting off and leaving the stage in darkness as they stepped off the stage to the chants of “Encore!” The crowd wanted more after having just a taste of how great they really are. Soon, the lights came back on one by one as The Goo Goo Dolls re-stepped onto the stage giving the crowd their desired encore and sending us off into the night singing every song out loud on the way home.