Goose closed out their 2024 summer tour last night with a homecoming blowout at New Haven’s Westville Music Bowl, marking the quintet’s first headlining performance in their home state since their last stand at the Bowl in May 2022. There was some serious excitement and gratitude in the air after the massive Saturday night show at Forest Hills Stadium, and that feeling was only compounded after some dicey weather pushed the start time by 90 minutes.
While Westville lacked the record-breaking crowd size of the previous two shows, vibes were off the charts as fans packed the Bowl for what was certain to be a special night, show #20 of the summer and the finale of drummer Cotter Ellis’ first outing as a member of the band.
Goose wasted no time in the first set, diving into an expansive “Butter Rum” as the show opener. While historically not my favourite song, it’s hard to deny its ability to get you dancing – and when it jams consistently the way it has been this tour, it’s a treat to start the night.
Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda used some dirty octave-down tones as multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach dialed in his percussive marimba piano to sync up with Ellis’ consistent pocket, briefly calling to mind the peak of the Cap “Into the Myst” with his drumbeat.
“Mr. Action” grooved in next, a fitting ode to the hardworking Goose crew on the last night of tour, before “Elizabeth” gave us another dose of improv. This song has been crushing shorter versions this year (see Atlanta), and this one was no different, quickly escaping the song proper into a major-key space buoyed by melodic playing from bassist Trevor Weekz and bright clav chords from Anspach.
A brief choogle hint at “I’m Writing a Novel” passed as the steady beat continued forward, brightening with a switch to piano and informing the peak to come. Mitarotonda patiently built his soloing in intensity and hit a phenomenal peak before smoothly bringing things back to “Elizabeth” proper.
One of the things Goose has been doing this year is dropping a massive jam as the first-set closer – and last night’s “Rockdale” not only filled that role but immediately became one of the most unique pieces of music ever performed by the band.
Besides being suspiciously absent from setlists since Raleigh, tying its all-time longest gap of 9 shows, this song has been relatively contained for over a year. The last improvisationally significant rendition came at the Ryman on March 30, 2023 – aside from the twin behemoth versions from March 2022, its massive potential has been largely untapped.
With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting anything massive as the jam began – but I was sorely mistaken.
Beginning with a section of drumming, Ellis and percussionist Jeff Arevalo were left on their own as Anspach and Mitarotonda shared a drink of their cacao, grinning as Weekz grooved in the drummers’ tight pocket.
Anspach laid heavy reverb on the clav as he alternated between it and piano, Ellis’ bright ride cymbal work cutting through the sound as the funk deepened. The pace began to pick up around eight and a half minutes in as the band found a familiar rocking riff that could easily have been informing an average-great Type I rendition.
Instead, Mitarotonda’s trills pushed Goose into an atypical and fast-charging dissonant space, Ellis leading the way. The guitarist sometimes has a tendency to build in a unique spot like this for a minute or so before ripping back into a big peak, so that was my expectation at first – but as the band continued to get darker and darker, I realized that they were exploring this space.
Weekz rumbled in as Ellis and Mitarotonda stayed in perfect lockstep, the latter gradually getting more atonal and dissonant, making Anspach’s minor playing seem even crazier. Finding a descending riff, the guitarist and keyboardist met and began to build around that theme.
Ellis brought the beat down and into half-time as the lick was passed around the three melodic players, fragmenting further from normal time and space as tom hits forced their way in between circular and angular riffs. Mitarotonda went back to a dirtier tone as a heavier tone crept in, something that easily could have hit into a big peak had Ellis not continued to do his best octopus impression, hitting what seemed like every piece of his kit at once.
The frenetic vibe of “Rockdale” pushed further and further, Mitarotonda’s flurries of riffs matching the craziness of the drums as Arevalo joined the frenzy with gusto. Ellis pivoted from crazy playing to a more straightforward groove at the perfect time, pushing the jam’s momentum higher and closer to a peak while the dissonance continued to grow.
A switch to a single chord vamp by Anspach inspired a new vein of jamming as it seemed as though Mitarotonda was pushing for a major modulation – this was quickly abandoned for another quieter break as a layer of synthesizer found its way underneath the piano, an effect quickly augmented again by a long phaser.
By this point, we had reached a point of controlled chaos – so many different things going on yet staying firmly in an engaging space. I think it was around here that I began cackling like a crazy person, in awe and glee because of what was happening.
Propelling faster and faster, Mitarotonda began just doing choppy chordal work as Anspach began to use a sound like a spring bouncing back and forth, Weekz playing his ASS off in a perfect supporting role. Dissonance layered on dissonance layered on dissonance as Mitarotonda began to riff again while Anspach peppered in hits on Vintage Vibe and then clav, Ellis reading minds once again and syncing up almost immediately.
The sun had set by this point and lighting designer Andrew Goedde painted the band and crowd in dark patterns, increasing the vibe further.
Dancing in sheer disbelief at this point, I was in awe as Mitarotonda’s shredding kept increasing in intensity, building in tension with wah pedal as Ellis once again linked up immediately on hits.
An angry cloud began to build, the tension reaching an absolute fever pitch as every member of the band locked in on what was seeming to be a neverending charge into madness.
Mitarotonda offered a lifeline in the form of a modulation into a charging rock zone, Anspach and Weekz following him smoothly without losing too much of the darkness and the drummers not slowing down one iota.
Hinting at some “Factory Fiction”-like themes, Goose smashed back into a more grounded motif and delivered an absolutely blistering peak build, smashing back into the ending of “Rockdale” with a fervor and energy that had the crowd roaring in response, each and every person absolutely floored by the jam that had just happened.
As the set wrapped up, it was clear that the band had also exceeded their own expectations by the smiles on all five faces as they took in the afterglow of the jam.
Setbreak basically consisted of “holy shit what just happened” and an attempt to process the four-song first set before the band returned for the second frame with an expected “Pancakes.”
Breaking quickly into a clav-centric space, it seemed as though we were poised for another deep foray into jam territory like the previous version from Raleigh, though the band delivered a fiery Type 1.5 peak on the edge of a blissy major key before heading into the first cover of “Milestone 2 (Skux Life)” since its Goose debut at Red Rocks on 8/18/22, a gap of 146 shows.
The majestical cover, while unfamiliar to many in the crowd, is undeniably catchy and kept the energy going before hitting back into the second piece of the “Pancakes” stack.
Initially sticking closer to “Skux Life” form with a reggae groove, Anspach’s synths added texture in a tight pocket reminiscent of “Indian River.” Delayed piano filled the air as Arevalo added big cymbal crashes over Ellis’ hi-hat until the band comp[leted their foray into this motif and spaced out back into the natural key of “Pancakes.”
“Everything Must Go” continued the energy with a relatively short and blissed out version ahead of the lone cooldown of the entire show in “This Old Sea.”
Without a ton of time remaining, Goose nodded to the weather delay with an appropriate “The Empress of Organos,” the lyric “you say looks like rain today, we say oh what a day to be living” getting belted extra loud by the big crowd.
It was all vibes as the second set wrapped up with a massive peak, but not before the band gave us an extra taste of improv, hitting into a dark minor-key space with some synth bomb effects from Weekz. For the fourth show in a row, I found myself wishing there was a little bit of extra wiggle room on curfew to allow this incredible “Empress” motif to develop, but the darkness was quickly abandoned in favour of a blistering conclusion to the song.
Returning for the encore, Anspach read a list of their entire crew, thanking each one of them for their hard work over the past month before turning the spotlight to Ellis, who received an absolutely staggering cheer from the crowd.
A perfect choice of “Praise You” was the last song of the night, a criminally underplayed cover last seen on February 12, 2022 in Pittsburgh, another tour closer that came on the heels of an incredible run of shows. Goose seems to save this song for when they’re really feeling grateful for fans and crew alike, and last night was a special moment as they rocked the Fatboy Slim cover.
Travelling back home today, I couldn’t help but feel an immense sense of gratitude toward the band and all my friends I’ve spent the last few weeks with, and the knowledge that this is just the tip of the iceberg for this new era of Goose makes me even more excited for the many dates that are to come later this year and beyond.
The band now enjoys some time to rest and reset ahead of their massive fall itinerary that kicks off on September 1st in Holmdel – and I can’t wait for that next show.
THANK YOU, GOOSE!