Show Review - Goose 10/6/23 Morrison, CO

COLORADO BAND

Thursday night was fun, but holy shit.

Sometimes the stars align, the band and crowd click, and everything is just perfect – that was last night at Red Rocks.

After a first night filled with some memorable moments, Goose took the stage and delivered one of the finest performances of their career to an eager and raucous crowd. Let’s dive in.

“Echo of a Rose” opened the night with a very solid 12-minute excursion to get everyone warmed up. Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda continued his MVP streak from Thursday night by stringing together a series of melodic phrases to keep the first song of the night hot before concluding and jumping into “Mr. Action.”

The fretboard fireworks continued through the ensuing “Lead Up,” where multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach’s crunchy rhythm guitar and spot-on vocal harmonies elevated the vibe even further.

Throughout the fall tour, fans had been talking about a mysterious yet-to-be-debuted cover that the band had been soundchecking at various stops. This was revealed last night with Goose’s first performance of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U.” As he is wont to do, Mitarotonda absolutely nailed the vocal performance, while the rhythm section of drummer Ben Atkind, percussionist Jeff Arevalo, and bassist Trevor Weekz destroyed the song’s groove in the best possible way.

“Everything Must Go” has been an incredibly reliable jam vehicle as of late, and last night’s version crushes all that came before it. Not only is the song itself gorgeous, offering fans an opportunity to belt the meaningful lyrics, but the pushing momentum of the jam has been a distinct highlight of every version.

Last night’s version debuted a new arrangement – Goose dropped into the jam with a punishing primal beat from Atkind and went directly into full evil mode. Hearkening back to legendary jams like the 1/30/22 Wysteria Lane and the 6/10/22 All I Need, Mitarotonda’s grinding leads may stick out on first listen, but the real star is Anspach’s piano. Being the perfect counterpoint to the guitar leads, the ivory work was necessary to elevate the music beyond a usual minor-key space.

My personal jam of the night and something I’m giving some serious top-ten consideration “EMG” built tension upon tension for minutes on end before the band executed an atypical release and return to the ending of the song – I am absolutely a huge fan of the new arrangement and look forward to future deeply-jammed renditions.

A quick blast through “All I Need” acted as the penultimate song of the set, where Goose explored some more minor-key terrain through a relatively short runtime – as has been the trend this fall. “Yeti” came in as the set closer and could have easily been an exclamation point on an already-great set, but the band had other plans and jumped into an extended dance-groove reminiscent of the last version played in Oakland in September.

We all knew what was coming as the first song of the second set – “Thatch.” MVP of the year and one of the band’s most consistent jam vehicles had another incredible run last night, going over 20 minutes long with hits of the ending of “Jive II” worked within the music. Similar to the version played in LA earlier in the tour, it eschewed the typical dark jamming in favour of a more uplifting motif, contrasting with the aggressive nature of the song very nicely.

David Gray’s “Please Forgive Me” acted as a nice mid-set breather before a classic “Borne” > “Hungersite” got the crowd riled up once again. The “Hungersite” jam was fast, hot, and explosive, doing a lot in its relatively short 15 minutes.

One of my favourite moments of the entire night came when the band struck into “What’s Up,” a fan favourite cover that was an absolutely perfect choice. If you listen to the soundboard of last night, an exuberant fan (me) audibly yells “oh my god OH MY GOD!” when it starts – I was a little bit excited. It was truly special to belt the lyrics to the catchy song in unison with 9,500 other fans, and you could really tell the band was basking in the glow (also evidenced during Peter’s positivity rap).

The second set closed with special-occasion song “Factory Fiction,” where the audience erupted at each euphoric phrase and lyric within. The jam itself was intensely psychedelic and was brimming with heavy “Dragonfly” teases from Rick. Ted Tapes teases and a Ted Tapes vibe made for one ridiculous set closer!

There was only one song for the encore: “Dripfield.” It was a summation of everything that Red Rocks means to Goose, a moment of celebration, 15 minutes of pure glory and joy felt by band, crew, and audience alike. There was no better way to end the two-night stand and while the show ended well before curfew, I would not have added a second of anything else to the ending.

Goose is a Colorado band. We’ve known this for a while and last night really just proved that they love the Centennial State. Thank you to Goose for continuing to deliver joyous music and shows – we’re doing it one more time tonight in Fort Collins to close out the tour!