Show Review - Goose 11/10/24 Cincinnati, OH

aGoosetic

Goose brought their Cincinnati weekend to a close last night with another incredibly special show, completing one of the best runs in their history as they head toward the end of their fall tour.

The night began with the band emerging for an acoustic mini-set, a really cool start that allowed them to dust off rare songs in an intimate-feeling setting. “Moonrise” made an appearance for the first time since Newport Folk Festival in 2022, the Peter-Anspach penned track from Dripfield offering a catchy and mellow opener. Multi-instrumentalist Jeff Arevalo shone early on with electric guitar work underneath the dual acoustics from Anspach and guitarist Rick Mitarotonda – three guitar Goose at last.

“Dim Lights,” a longtime fan favourite staple of Orebolo setlists, made its full-band debut next and was an absolutely incredible performance. Often regarded as one of Mitarotonda’s best songwriting efforts, it’s a perfect choice for any acoustic segment.

“Atlantic City” completed the mellow opening trio with another impassioned vocal performance from Mitarotonda, the rare Springsteen cover getting a big reaction from the crowd.

“A Western Sun” kicked things up a notch as Anspach moved to piano, utilizing an upright sound in lieu of the usual grand piano patch, fitting with the continued acoustic vibe. The band took off on an airy jam after the conclusion of the song proper, Mitarotonda making a smooth switch from acoustic to electric after a few minutes of poking around the space. Drummer Cotter Ellis’ fluid and rolling beat called to mind Ted Tapes cut “Leo,” as he’s been doing lately – specifically his intricate ride cymbal pattern.

Increasing the intensity, the band worked through a collective sustained peak, Mitarotonda leaning heavily into a classic rock vibe, complete with huge power chords to end off the fiery improv. “Butter Rum” was tapped next and interestingly featured bassist Trevor Weekz staying on acoustic – which sounded really good in the context of the rest of the band’s electric instruments. Not quite as thick as his usual sound, the notes were still very articulate as he held down the fast-paced dance jam with heavy and funky Vintage Vibe work from Anspach.

The strong first set continued with “Borne,” slinking into the spacey ether of the slower jam for the second consecutive version since moving away from the “2001”-style jam last month. The band stuck relatively close to home on this 15-minute version, taking their time to build to a frothing peak with soaring Mitarotonda leads and amazing textures from Anspach before cooling and segueing into “Spirit of the Dark Horse.”

“My Mind Has Been Consumed By Media” – now without the extended synth solo intro – gave a quick burst of energy ahead of a big set-closing “Rockdale,” continuing the song’s incredibly strong 2024. The jam began in a chunky funk zone that quickly began to colour outside the lines thanks to a synth drone from Anspach as he crafted another one of his simple and repetitive riffs on clav.

Things got volcanic from there as the band worked to a collective peak with several screaming tension builds, finishing out the jam and first set on an extremely high note.

Returning from setbreak, the band tapped the due “Wysteria Lane” to open the frame, serving up a solid 15-minute version with some excellent dual-guitar churning, sticking relatively close to home but blowing up a strong peak with awesome interplay.

Continuing to bring back Halloween covers, we got a quick “Psycho Killer” fronted by Ellis ahead of a mid-set “Slow Ready,” keeping the energy up before the big centrepiece jam of the night in “Red Bird.”

Standing at 26 minutes and the longest version of the song to date, the band began with a lengthy peak section almost like an “Arcadia” jam, Mitarotonda going after blistering leads as Ellis drummed his ass off.

Descending into exploratory space from there, Anspach began to dance around on reverb-heavy clav, Mitarotonda eventually joining him in an active dance with occasional pop-outs from Weekz. Ellis’ tom-heavy beat left tons of sonic space for the other instruments, and guitar and keys both played with dynamics and effects throughout the layered improv.

Anspach made the switch to Vintage Vibe as things settled in a spacey major mode, things quieting even further as the band entered a progression reminiscent of “Indian River.” Weekz played some deep and heavy riffs as the band coasted in this beautiful zone, just effortlessly building the jam with a gradual increase in intensity and tempo thanks to Ellis’ perfect control.

Without missing a beat, the end of the jam led into a blazing hot “Tumble” to close the second set, the band opting to go full party-peak mode to close things out.

Amongst rumours of a Bob Weir sit-in, the band had some fun at the beginning of the encore as Rick introduced Billy Ray Cyrus – or Weekz in a cowboy hat – to sing the first “Achy Breaky Heart” in 122 shows. From there, the weekend was brought to an end with a blazing hot “Factory Fiction,” the Cincinnati crowd giving Goose an amazingly loud cheer as they took their final bow.

This weekend was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in my 95 times seeing this band, and I’m grateful for the magic I got to share in with several thousand other awesome people over the course of the last three nights. It’s truly special to get to witness this level of music from one of your favourite bands, but even more special to get to share it with people you love.

With two shows left on this tour, Goose has the ability to make November 2024 one of the best stretches in their history – and based on how things went the last time they were in DC, I have a really good feeling about this week’s shows.

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