Originally published as part of the El Goose Times Volume 10.
It was the Summer of Thatch.
…or something like that.
In reality, it was the summer of Goose – the band once again spent the early part of the season burning down a series of cities and venue as their 2023 sound continues to expand.
Beginning with some one-off festival dates in late May and early June, the quintet quickly demonstrated that these would not be your run-of-the-mill festival experiences – Summer Camp’s “Thatch” and Cathead Jam’s “Tumble” are both excellent and memorable jams, with the latter featuring some truly unique and layered piano work from Peter. The second set of Cathead also boasted an impressive pairing of “Red Bird” and “In Your Eyes” – where drums were king. Wrapping up the quick jaunt with appearances in Chattanooga and Lexington where “Goocius” returned for the first time since last summer, the band headed into tour proper on a serious mission.
Beginning in Chicago on June 21st with a very interesting introduction from fan and comedian Bert Kreischer, this “intimate” show at the site of the 2021 New Year’s Eve concerts saw the band craft an astounding segue sandwich with “Elizabeth” -> “Caution” -> “Elizabeth” and absolutely blow the doors off the place with an all-killer, no-filler second set that had Peter’s arpeggiator everywhere.
Louisville has been a very important place for Goose dating back to their first-ever multi-night run in June 2018, so it was a fair assumption that these shows were going to be incredible. In just the third song of the first set on 6/22, the band delivered a “Borne” of the highest magnitude, somehow expanding on the majestic previous version in Eugene from April. Washes of textures and an infusion of klezmer vibes were all over this all-time version, whereas the second set’s “Arrow” stretched to nearly half an hour and began the stretch of the year where Jeff has really been showing off both his percussion chops and incredibly chemistry with Spuds.
Louisville N2’s first set was highlighted by a NUCLEAR-level “All I Need” – one of the loudest crowd reactions to a jam in Goose history that is clearly audible on the recording. Rick’s incredible solo ventured into some “Hollywood Nights”-ish territory atop a bed of Peter’s synths and organ to higher and higher peaks. The emphasis on well-crafted upbeat jams continued in the second set’s “Red Bird,” where Trevor anchored a powerful space once again filled with layered Peter textures.
While a 90-minute appearance at an EDM-based festival like Electric Forest was expected to be a relatively skippable show, Goose opted instead to take up nearly a third of their allotted time with a sprawling “Madhuvan.” The darkness took over quickly for the first five minutes of the jam and the band seemed as though they were going to wrap up a concise 12 or 13-minute version of the song – but Rick found a new vein of inspiration and they exploded into a charging, hose-like space that saw Peter stick to guitar for longer than he has for a lot of this year. Contiuing from there, the improv broke down into some funkier territory and eventually climbed its way back home.
Columbus, SHOWHIO on June 27th was a unique affair, and saw the returns of many setlist staples on a conspicuously long show gap. “Time to Flee,” for instance, had been missing since Bozeman in April and “Honeybee” since March. “The Old Man’s Boat” returned after a 20-show gap with a new element – Peter’s arpeggiator, which lent the Vintage Vibe jam a cool extra layer of sound. This show also had the crazy bustout of “Rosa Lee McFall” to close the first set, spanning a 300+ show gap. Spuds and Jeff dialed themselves in on the second set-highlighting “Rosewood Heart,” the show’s improvisational centrepiece.
It was time for some more festival playing with Peach on June 29th, where the band offered a show lacking a huge improvisational centrepiece, but instead a well-crafted two sets with great flow and pockets of shorter jams. “Feel it Now” tested itself as a show opener, appearing outside of the second set for the first time, while both “Butter Rum” and “Red Bird” got into some unique grooves led by the rhythm section. “Drive” got a jam for the first time since the Cap (!!!), and the band punctuated that with a triumphant “Hollywood Nights” before (of course) “Thatch” closed out the night.
Two nights as the headliner at Resonance in the state of Showhio was a recipe for greatness, and the band offered some serious heat to the relatively intimate (and muddy) audience. A dash of Kenny Loggins gave way to another standout “All I Need” before Peter teased us all with a “Lily’s Tiger” tease within “Pancakes” – possibly foreshadowing the next day’s Great Blue set. In the second set, we got another monstrous and expansive half-hour “Arrow” and some SERIOUS grime in “Wysteria Lane” – no doubt one of the year’s MVP jam vehicles.
When talking about July 1st, one can look at the great cover choices (“W.S. Walcott” and “Dancing in the Moonlight”), the first “Dark Horse” of 2023, or the solid “Echo of a Rose” in set one, but the real star comes with the “Empress of Organos” featuring Joel Cummins and Jake Cinninger of Umphrey’s McGee. Whereas Trey’s Radio City and TABoose sit-ins felt like they had some musical respect and deference on Rick’s part (in a good way), this UM collaboration let him go wild against Jake, shredding back and forth as they continuously tried to one-up each other’s licks. Joel’s contributions on keys were incredible as well, first ripping up the Vintage Vibe and then piano as he added a jazzy element we’re not used to with Peter. Both musicians had clearly practiced “Empress” and the tight performance. Only things that happen at Showhio Goose shows!
Moving back to the east coast, a two-night stand at Asbury Park’s Stone Pony over the Fourth of July contained what fans have affectionately named “Everything Must GOAT,” though this version’s liquid major-key groove is sure to be surpassed this fall. Well-timed fireworks over the boardwalk had the energy skyrocketing during the amazing trio of “Yeti,” “Creatures,” and “Arcadia” in the second frame. The pictures and video can’t possibly do the moment justice and all who were in attendance will no doubt carry that moment forever. Closing the frame was a piano-dominated “Dripfield,” one of the longest versions in the song’s history.
On night two, Goose played the Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues” for the first time, though the song has been an Orebolo staple. A uniquely-woven “Thatch” carried the second set to another peak energy moment in singalong “What’s Up.” Up the coast to Portland they went, and left Thompson’s Point ablaze after a seriously “Hot Tea,” this one stretching close to 25 minutes in a memorably gorgeous major-key motif.
ICYMI – Goose is an amphitheatre band.
After taking the step up to arenas last year with Mohegan Goosemas, the logical next level was the iconic summer shed circuit. Making their SPAC debut ten years to the day after the final Vasudo show took place as a Phish afterparty at the same venue, Goose rose to the occasion and destroyed the 12k people in attendance with a near-perfect show.
While the arena debut on 2/26/22 felt like the band had something to prove, SPAC felt more like a celebration – we knew that Goose was ready for this size. From the opening notes of “Silver Rising” to the final strains of “Factory Fiction,” there was not a lull in energy or a moment where it didn’t feel like band and crowd alike were connected.
Oh, yeah – and there were some incredible jams. From the first set’s “Red Bird” that journeyed atop Spuds’ punchy popcorn snare to a joyous motif to the gnarled and twisted “Empress” that opened set two, the band rocked the amphitheatre to the highest level possible. They couldn’t not play “Thatch” here – and the crowd knew it, reaching a fever pitch as Goose took their time developing a patient motif in possibly the song’s finest outing to date.
A couple of exclamation points were put on the summer with solid appearances at Levitate and Newport Folk festivals, the latter of course being known for its Muppet sit-in.
With a cross-country trek in store for September and their first European visit in November, the road to Goosemas 10 at Hampton is filled with a serious amount of music…let’s keep building this 2023 momentum until December when we burn down the Mothership!