Goose Show Review - 3/2/22 Washington, DC
After an intense and jam-filled show on Tuesday, Goose returned to the sold-out 9:30 Club for their second night and delivered another scorcher.
Opening with Jive I, Rick and Peter took the intro jam out for a little walk via solo-trading that is reminiscent of an Empress intro. Sliding into Indian River next, the Welcome to Delta jam really stretched its legs, pushing the song to the 20-minute mark with an extended dance party groove, something that would be a theme for the night. A run through Dr. Darkness came ahead of the typically high-energy SOS, which reached multiple peaks in an almost Mona Lisa-like fashion. The all-killer, no-filler set closed with a raucous Jeff Engborg, highlighted by Peter’s incredible crunchy clav work and Trevor’s steady bass bedrock.
What the first set lacked in deep improvisation it more than made up for with incredible song selection, energy, and tight playing from all five band members.
The second set opened with a blazing Bob Don (sans outro jam) that led into an extended and dissonant Flodown intro before the first big jam of the night in Time to Flee. This Flee stayed in major-mode bliss for the majority of its 14 minutes as Rich’s guitar soared overtop the rhythm section’s unwavering groove and Peter’s bed of piano. Nights in White Satin offered the lone cool-down song of the night but became more of a power ballad as the band rocked it to yet another BLAZING peak courtesy of Rick.
Late second set isn’t normally where the huge 1-2 punch of jams come in a show, but the All I Need -> Arrow that closed the show proper demonstrated a variety of different jamming styles and displayed the tightness of the band. Breaking from its usual bliss jam early, All I Need turned dark and built to dissonant peak after dissonant peak, washes of notes building tension from both Rick and Peter. Doing what they do best, Goose exploded back into the song proper out of the darkness and bounced into the second jam’s peppy groove. Finding its way to the opening riff of Arrow, the band took their time with the segue, slowly and perfectly transforming the jam until they were ready for the song.
Arrow was its typical self, spanning 25+ minutes with an incredible dancey groove to close the set on a high note.
Capping the two-night run with an energetic Lovelight featuring Spuds on vocals, Goose left DC with a pair of incredible shows in their wake.
While 3/1 had much more in the way of deep improv, last night was built to be a party show that perfectly matched the capacity crowd’s unrelenting energy and zest for the music.
Being in such a small room after the size of Goosemas was a really cool experience, and I especially want to highlight FOH sound engineer Sam Bardani for making the band sound absolutely perfect – it can’t be easy to dial in the band’s sound in an arena and then a small club! While I’m at it, shoutout to Goose’s ENTIRE crew, a small group who work tirelessly to deliver each incredible concert for all of us!
On to Charlotte!
nice review -- well done...