Goose began their fall tour-closing weekend in Colorado with the first of two sold-out nights at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre. While last year’s debut at the venue felt as though the band was getting used to the space, last night felt comfortable and at home – especially given the larger venues they’ve been playing this year.
Vibes were sky-high before the show as friends and families hugged and got excited for the amazing music to come.
Recently revived cover “The Killing Moon” opened the night for its third play of fall tour, giving us a nice rocking start. The band jumped right into “SOS” next, splitting the song from its “(dawn)” segment for the second time this tour and just the third time ever.
A run of “Atlas Dogs” and “Turbulence & The Night Rays” led to a drawn-out and meaty “Bob Don,” where guitarist Rick Mitarotonda dug deep into the rock ‘n roll vibe for a searing guitar solo. Returning to “(dawn),” the end of the “Bob Dawn” segment of the show saw the band soaring into the night air across a seemingly endless run of joyous peaks. Percussionist Jeff Arevalo even stood up as he played tambourine and gong through the euphoric segment.
The first extended improv of the night came in the ensuing “Pancakes,” where multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach dug in on clavinet in the initial portion of the jam. Mitarotonda took the helm and locked in with bassist Trevor Weekz as Anspach returned to piano, developing a driving motif with some sustained leads. Drummer Ben Atkind then pushed it into a half-time groove that briefly hinted at “Dragonfly” before morphing into another excellent upbeat segment reminiscent of the 10/4/22 “This Old Sea.”
“So Ready,” dedicated to comedian Bert Kreischer, closed the set with fiery guitar solos from both Mitarotonda and Anspach as lighting director Andrew Goedde painted the huge rocks with mesmerizing patterns.
Setbreak was another amazing opportunity to move around and have conversations with the various members of the incredible Goose community – I cannot stress enough how perfect the vibes were in the crowd last night.
The band emerged for the second set and settled right into the dance groove of “Creatures.” Atkind, Weekz, and Arevalo laid down the strong foundation as Mitarotonda continued his blazing streak, moving from the typical song’s groove to a euphoric peak. A segue into “Shama Lama Ding Dong” had smiles on all faces before Anspach’s groovy “Feel it Now” really upheld the dance party vibe of the set.
My personal highlight came next with the first jammed-out “This Old Sea” since 1/15 in Mexico. The song itself offers five minutes of some of Goose’s best songwriting, which doesn’t need a jam – but when they play it like this…it’s even more special.
Beginning in a contemplative major-key space, Anspach’s light touch on the Vintage Vibe intertwined with Mitarotonda’s leads and Atkind’s cymbals for a few minutes. The drummers switched up the beat into a more percussive space as Mitarotonda went minor and Anspach began to pepper in some organ blasts.
Riffs akin to Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick” flew across the air as Anspach took the lead with a scorching solo on his Hammond C3, leading to another incendiary segment from Mitarotonda. The guitarist seemed to not want to ever stop peaking the jam as he strung together phrase after phrase as the crowd went absolutely nuts.
Upon the conclusion of the 19-minute “Sea,” Goose dropped “The Labyrinth” for the first time since 8/16/22, a gap of 103 shows. One of Mitarotonda’s most complex compositions, it seemed to stretch on for far longer than its 11-minute runtime as it passed through various modes and themes.
“Hot Tea,” complete with a quick bathroom break from Mitarotonda during Anspach’s super-extended and multifaceted keyboard solo, was a seriously fun way to close the set, offering yet another run of euphoric and blazing peaks.
The always-reliable “Flodown” acted as a quick encore to the first night, leaving us even more excited for what’s to come tonight.
All signs point to Friday night at Red Rocks being an absolute barn-burner – with huge jam vehicles on the table, we are poised for what could be a top show of the tour…but only time will tell.
See you back on the Rocks tonight!
Great review, fun shown with lots of happy jamming. Like This Old Sea in its usual 2nd set breather role but it’s hard to argue with this version!