For their final night in Chicago, Goose pulled out all the stops for an epic Friday rager, writing a near-perfect setlist with impeccable song choices and flow plus a handful of mind-blowing improvisational moments.
Clearly energized after the first two Salt Shed shows and the Julian Lage sit-in on Thursday, the band took the stage with an expected “Hot Love & the Lazy Poet” opener, returning to its typical starting slot after being in the encore last weekend at SPAC. Goose continued to emphasize their newer material with “One In, One Out,” the Peter Anspach-penned tune getting its second outing after its Boston debut last week.
The concise version warmed up the band’s improvisational chops for the night with a straightforward peak, highlighted by drummer Cotter Ellis’ busy playing and poignant ride cymbal work. The raging peak died away and hinted at further exploration for a few seconds before the band opted to lead into “Borne.”
Taking a more textural role than normal to begin the jam, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda triggered some dense clouds of delay loops, Anspach mirroring his subtle work with some OB-6 and Vintage Vibe tones. Bassist Trevor Weekz utilized his signature slight envelope filter atop Ellis’ crisp snare, letting guitar and keyboards spread waves of sound outward.
Picking up some speed, Mitarotonda switched to lead work and built patiently to a screaming peak in a similar peppy groove to a “Welcome to Delta” jam. Just when you thought this “Borne” was going to be standard fare for its whole runtime, the band dropped off into a moody groove reminiscent of the 4/25/23 Eugene “Borne,” a dark vibe with pulsating clouds of reverse-delay guitar along with insane work from Weekz.
Anspach added in sharply biting clav along with piano as it seemed as though the band was ready for serious liftoff, but Mitarotonda pulled the ripcord on the promising jam in favour of “Silver Rising.” This moment was the only point of last night’s show that I feel deserves some criticism, and the space the band found in the last few minutes of “Borne” is one I really hope they revisit soon.
Some technical difficulties plagued “Silver,” a rogue click track becoming audible on the PA until tech Will Cunliffe was able to solve the problem – giving Anspach an extra-mustard length piano solo.
“Atlas Dogs” was tapped next and embarked on an extended jam with some excellent reverse-delay organ at the beginning (foreshadowing!) along with Mitarotonda’s chordal vamps that brought “Spooky” to mind. While this jam never strayed far from the song proper – a quick foray into Type 1.5 territory – getting some consistent jams out of “Atlas Dogs” again is a big treat and the band seems to be building toward an inevitable huge version.
“Big Modern!” was tapped to close the set and caused everyone to have a sudden desire to purchase a pickup truck. “honky-tonk We Didn’t Start The Fire,” as someone called it online today, has quickly become a favourite song of mine and further reinforces Goose’s (specifically Mitarotonda’s) massive talent for composing incredible earworms.
A rattle in my brain, indeed.
This sizeable “Modern” is arguably the best one yet, choogling into a guitar-forward space and driving ahead into a powerful jam. Anspach utilized his phaser piano to keep the vibes up as Mitarotonda let loose powerful peak after powerful peak.
Landing firmly in the dark-tinged composed ending to the song, Anspach hinted at some evil improv with the clav before concluding the song on a high note with an exuberant explosion back into the chorus.
The 30-minute setbreak seemed to fly by as excitement mounted for the final set of the week, the consistency with which the band has been playing even enabling me to let go of my expectations and worries about setlist construction, just putting my trust in Goose.
Re-emerging for an appropriate “Zalt,” the crowd was ecstatic for the raging song that finally seems to have entered regular rotation after being absent from April to last weekend at SPAC. While I do still feel as though this tune is destined for massive Type II vehicle status, its usage as an 11-minute opener to the set was perfect last night as the band lit up the tune through sustained energy, Mitarotonda’s guitar tone reaching absolute perfection in both chords and leads.
Cooling down with arguably one of their best covers in Jim James’ “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.),” the power did not go out as Goose called for one of their best originals to anchor the set, “Dripfield.” Placed out of the closer slot for just the second time in 2024, the massive primal banger was finally given the breathing room necessary to get some massive improv in – and what ensued was nothing short of breathtaking.
Beginning in a vicious dual-guitar churn, Mitarotonda led the rest of the band through some serious “That’s All”-adjacent jamming, percussionist Jeff Arevalo locking in with Ellis for some active work, hammering away at his kit and crashing his cymbals at key points.
The real magic began to happen after the long peak as the band brought the energy down, moving into a brighter major-key zone as Anspach made the switch to keys and began to sparkle on Vintage Vibe.
Bringing in some subtle OB-6 textures, Mitarotonda began some gorgeous and remarkably gentle riffs, also reintroducing subtle clouds of delay like in the first set’s “Borne.” The band quickly coalesced around the new melodic ideas, some amazing collective interplay taking shape as Anspach moved to piano and began to mimick Mitarotonda’s playing.
The rhythm section kept things subtle, showing restraint as guitar and piano built in a completely fresh progression – not relying on a tried-and-true bliss method like the band has in the path, they forged ahead into what my friend and podcast co-host Neal described as “sophisticated” – a word more and more applicable to Goose’s improv with each passing show.
Bringing up the energy a bit, Mitarotonda began to lead the band into the stop/start toggling of intensities displayed in Thursday’s “Thatch.” Doing that for a bit, Mitarotonda then began to hammer some darker riffs, leading into a beautiful brief hint at a more evil turn before ramping up the intensity and exploding perfectly into the “(satellite)” left off SPAC’s “So Ready” – made atypical by the patient segue and Anspach’s usage of synthesizer while Ellis ramped up the tempo.
Twin guitar solos seemed to fly by as an all-out dance party ensued before Goose blasted right into the beginning of “Hollywood Nights,” picking another perfect cover for the moment and keeping the energy at an apex as they crafted a flawless fourth quarter to the show. “Give it Time” was tapped to close the set with more singalong vibes and emotion.
Returning for the encore, Anspach thanked the Chicago crowd for an incredible run before kicking into “Arcadia,” always a perfect pick for a final volcanic peak – but with a twist, as the band modulated their way back into the ending of “Zalt” for one final turn around the hard-rocking peak.
My 25th Goose show of 2024 was easily one of my favourites of the year so far as the band seems to be getting more confident and capable with their setlist composition and improv as their September tour continues. With a few days off before my next attendance in Salt Lake City, I look forward to taking in the remainder of the Midwest shows from the couch as the band closes the weekend in Minneapolis and Waukee. Livestreams are available exclusively for nugs subscribers.
The end of the Goose show wasn’t the end of the night, however, as we headed down the street to the iO Theatre for a RAGING after-show courtesy of DJ Rivka Ruth and the impeccable grooves of Chicago natives Hot Like Mars. As I said earlier today - if you like to dance and have a good time, HLM is a can’t-miss act as their razor-sharp tightness in both compositions and solos is only outmatched by the incredible vibes each of the members put out from the stage. They just released single “Every Day Above Ground” last month and have been gaining traction in the Chicago area - don’t miss your chance to see them burn down some small clubs before they start hitting bigger rooms soon - it’s bound to happen! Check them out around the Midwest this fall!