Rock icons who recorded live on the Strip in ’96 to play The Venetian

The Goo Goo Dolls have a deep history in Las Vegas. You just have to drill to find it.

The band led by vocalist/guitarist John Rzeznik and bassist/vocalist Robby Takac recorded a show at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in March 1996. The show was a stop on “The Sixteen Stone Tour,” with No Doubt and Bush co-headlining.

The performance was released as the bonus album to “A Boy Named Goo,” remastered and re-released on its 30th anniversary in March.

With that show as its launching point, the Goo Goo Dolls are booked for a return to the Strip in May. The five shows at the Venetian Theatre run May 15, 16, 20, 22 and 23 (ticket information is at Ticketmaster.com).

The band’s most recent Las Vegas performance was at the official closing party for the InsureTech Connect Vegas conference in October at Mandalay Bay.

Rzeznik and Takac founded the then-punk influenced band in Buffalo, New York, in 1986. The Venetian series marks their 40th anniversary. Adopting an alt-rock style in their first decade, the Goo Goo Dolls have charted such classics as “Name,” “Slide” and “Iris.” The lyric “And I don’t want the world to see me, ’cause I don’t think that they’d understand,” from “Iris,” has spanned decades.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.