Goose brought the penultimate weekend of their September tour to a close last night in Troutdale, delivering a blistering Sunday show to the Oregon crowd on the first night of fall. With the re-emergence of big jams on Saturday near Seattle, the band was primed for another incredible show as they headed south into Oregon to McMenamins Edgefield – another absolutely beautiful venue immersed in nature.
Kicking off the show with the always-reliable “Jive II,” things got going with the best Jive and strong solos from both multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach and guitarist Rick Mitarotonda. The crowd seemed pretty dialed in to the band quickly despite the usual PNW vibe that many people were seeing their first show – immediately higher-energy than the opening to the Remlinger Farms show on Friday.
A nice “Silver Rising” came next ahead of the night’s first big jam in “Look Out Cleveland.” While the funky vehicle has always been one of my favourite covers, it’s largely been relegated to a nice dose of dance grooves as opposed to the launchpad for huge improv it was back in late 2021. This changed last night, as Goose delivered the longest version to date and began the Troutdale trend of darker jamming.
Anspach and Mitarotonda kicked things off with some smooth-grooving interplay, dancing around each other for a bit before Anspach turned his clav to some textural phased-out work, adding in some piano as they began to drift out of the standard “Cleveland” jam. Bassist Trevor Weekz mirrored the keyboard progression, adding a new layer underneath Mitarotonda’s octave-down riffing for a spell before the guitarist initiated a major modulation just before the 8-minute mark.
Floating into a space with shades of “Dragonfly,” the band mellowed things out atop drummer Cotter Ellis’ steady pocket, Anspach in particular weaving some amazingly melodic piano accompaniment to Mitarotonda’s continued leadership.
Sticking to this sunset space for a while, Mitarotonda hinted at some “Dave’s Energy Guide”-like riffs, increasing the intensity and spurring Ellis to pick up the tempo into some fast-paced double-time work. Sticking to the continued peak for a bit, the band eventually pivoted into a charging minor key reminiscent of the Westville “Rockdale.”
Continuing to push forward, the band locked in on a repeating ascending/descending melody for a spell before Mitarotonda led a rip back into the standard “Cleveland” peak somewhat abruptly. While not as long or deep of an evil exploration as I would have liked, this jam showed us that it wasn’t all bliss and the signs of darkness that had been poking through the last few shows would come back later on in a bigger and more fully-formed way.
“Feel it Now” has really been finding its footing lately, and this mid-first-set placement was absolutely perfect – acting as a breather after the vicious jam before, it kept vibes high and the dance party going before “Lead Up” let Mitarotonda really go nuts on guitar.
The first set came to a close with a bopping “Animal,” a perfect song for newer fans that the band has been nailing lately – though I still think it would be better as a punchy five-minute rocker.
Kicking off an exceptional set came “Creatures,” Anspach going in on some buzzing OB-6 synthesizer tones to start things off as multi-instrumentalist Jeff Arevalo locked in with Ellis on a busy-yet-steady groove.
Mitarotonda and Weekz hung back in the pocket to let Anspach really layer on the synth before the keyboardist moved to reverse-delay Vintage Vibe work, swirling around before landing in the usual disco jam. Switching to phaser piano and locking in on a groovy progression with the rest of the band, Anspach’s layers intertwined with Mitarotonda’s choppy chordal work and aggressive Weekz as Ellis brought things down into what was seemingly a standard beat-drop build. This was not the case, however, as “Creatures” was treated to some thick and dark riffing for a bit, building tension until a big release was hit, Anspach colouring the space with some deep synth swells through a sustained minor-key peak.
Cooling off after a crescendo and fever pitch of energy, Ellis kept things moving and seamlessly segued into “Tomorrow Never Knows,” letting Arevalo show off his prowess at strumming a C chord. The Beatles cover has always been a great addition to the middle of a second set and carried over the party vibe from “Creatures”
With the way “Arrow” has been in 2024, I was incredibly excited at the opening notes – especially after the hints at a dark theme throughout the first couple of jams in the show. Goose failed to disappoint and delivered what is absolutely my favourite jam of the west coast run so far.
Beginning in your standard “Arrow” space, Anspach and Mitarotonda mirrored each other on some bright riffing initially, the former subtly infusing some synth underneath his Vintage Vibe and finding an earwormy hook while the latter focused on building a repeated motif along with some reverse-delay loops. Ellis pushed the tempo as he has been wont to do lately and the band took off into confident and soaring jamming, each member contributing to the whole in some excellent democratic styles.
Just after the 14-minute mark, Mitarotonda made a minor tweak to his playing and steered in a darker direction, Anspach quickly picking up on it and moving to synth while Ellis responded by slowing down into a heavier – yet strangely still propulsive – beat. Weekz stepped out front as Anspach made a pivot to marimba piano, leaving his synths to swirl in the background as the eerie jam came together.
Getting heavier and heavier, Mitarotonda activated his synth-filter pedal, going ham on long, dark riffs as things got increasingly primal. Cooling a bit from the initial aggressive turn, Ellis took to some tom work as Anspach played haunting lines underneath Weekz’ unsettling high-register playing and Mitarotonda got busy with some wild riffing.
Tension built upon tension as the musicians tossed phrases back and forth, Arevalo and Ellis going ham on the drums as the speed charged back up from the initial slow-down. For a few minutes, the band continued to increase the intensity of the minor-key space, bringing the simmering theme to a boil and finally a frenzied peak before Mitarotonda pulled the band back into a perfect ending to “Arrow.”
The crowd was going absolutely wild at the end of the night’s tentpole jam but was immediately attentive for the tender “A Western Sun,” giving a quick breather before “The Empress of Organos” closed out the second set on a high note – returning to its “let’s get this song in before curfew” role and unfortunately showing promise of some more amazing jamming that could have come to fruition if the band had more time.
With all the bangers being played throughout the show, I was expecting a “Give it Time” encore, which has been missing since Chicago – but the band instead opted for an explosive “Arcadia,” hinting at some Buffalo-like bliss for a spell before bringing it home with a bang.
Whether last night was your first show or 81st show, there is something for everyone to dig in to across the diverse setlist and wide range of jamming styles as Goose continued their all-star run down the west coast. The last two shows have shown that the band is finally clicking on their setlist construction, tight playing, and improvisational journeys and I have no doubt that the last four shows of this run are going to be something truly special.
After a night off tonight, tour resumes at Eugene’s Cuthbert Amphitheater before heading south to California for the final three shows of September. Livestreams are available exclusively to nugs subscribers.