Goose closed their fall tour out last night with a special show at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. After two wildly successful nights at Red Rocks, the Saturday night rager felt like a bonus show, especially given the magnitude of Friday’s show.
Thousands of people packed onto the grassy lawn last night, though it was clear that bigger Goose fans outnumbered CSU students by a significant margin. The start of the show seemed to be slightly delayed due to some issues with a light on stage, but the crew quickly got it fixed and the band came on stage to a rocking “Animal.”
Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach took his time on the open groove of the song with some excellent piano work ahead of a solid guitar-led peak from Rick Mitarotonda. “Rockdale” came next and offered some crunchy funk and another solid peak before crowd-pleaser “Silver Rising.”
It was during “Silver” that Mitarotonda’s microphone started crackling, throwing the band off of their game a little bit. Front-of-house sound engineer Eric Loomis and monitor tech Sam Bardani worked hard to fix the issue throughout, and some hilarious banter ensued after the song, including Anspach surveying the crowd on various topics.
Vocal issues continued to plague the band through “Wysteria Lane” after the first verse, so Goose opted to skip the rest of the song and jump right into the jam very early on. Due to the nature of the early jam, it took them a minute to find their footing but quickly reached a fiery dual-guitar peak. The improv quickly moved into a Type-II space with Anspach switching to Vintage Vibe and working in teases of the theme from “Magic School Bus.”
The rhythm section locked in on an easy major-key motif with great percussion from Jeff Arevalo, introducing many first-time fans to the magic of Goose jamming. Mitarotonda led a shift into a klezmer-tinged space that took the song minor. While the “Wysteria” jam didn’t explore new sonic territory, staying on familiar themes, it was a really unique 19 minutes and acted as a great way to power through the tech issues.
A smooth segue into a crowd-pleasing “Electric Avenue” closed the first set on a high note – one of the moments that elicited a huge singalong from the big audience.
Keeping their eye on the clock, Goose came out for the second set strong with the first “Fish in the Sea” since June. Mitarotonda dug into the groove with a grimy tone as Anspach layered synths over the dance groove – another cover perfectly suited to the college crowd.
The party vibe of the set continued with “Tumble,” a relatively straightforward rendition with HUGE energy. Anspach stuck to guitar for the first few minutes, offering a great counterpoint to Mitarotonda’s lead work, but soon switched to piano after the major-key modulation. A series of joyous and fiery peaks led to a strong finish, but the best was yet to come.
At this point in the show, I had figured that we’d be treated to some well-played songs for the remainder of the show – and that was completely fine by me after the exemplary jamming at Red Rocks.
When Anspach began the familiar intro to “Red Bird,” I was immediately excited at the prospect of getting some deep jamming, however – and received it in spades!
After the initial Type I jam, all five members hit deep into minor key in almost unison, diving into a beautifully evil-tinged jam. Weekz in particular led the charge with bombs on the one-beat, really driving the improv with force. I absolutely adore Trevor Bass jams and it was evident that the whole band was revelling in the momentum and drive. We’ve seen a lot of darker jams and builds this fall become short-lived and explode back into a more upbeat peak, but they were undeterred during last night’s “Bird” and plowed forward through the darkness while lighting director Andrew Goedde painted the night air with colours and patterns.
As the jam wound down, Mitarotonda began strumming the chords to Ted Tapes cut and the ultimate landing pad, “Moby.” One of my favourite Goose songs, this psychedelic groove built around an earworm-y lick is the best possible way to cool down after a big jam.
Anspach busted out his best dance moves for the ensuing “Slow Ready” before “The Empress of Organos” closed the set. Goose’s banter has been hilarious and plentiful this fall and they once again took to the mics in the break before the chorus (Jeff: “Hi mom!”).
Sometimes you can just feel what encore is coming, and a blazing hot “Arcadia” was just what the doctor ordered for the tour closer. It wins every single time.
Goose’s fall tour closer was a perfect bonus round after an incredible two nights at Red Rocks and just further proves that they are a Colorado band. What a weekend!
Next stop, Europe!
After hundreds of hours listening to this band I have finally heard a subpar solo from Rick (Silver Rising) though you find out later it’s because of sound issues. Great show with lots of funny dialogue between songs. This Wysteria shows the band continuing to rise to the occasion when adversity strikes.