Set 1: Arrow, Borne > Lead Up, Rock The Casbah[1] > Slow Ready, Silver Rising > Hot Tea
Set 2: Fish In The Sea[2] > Red Bird > Moby > Arcadia, The Empress Of Organos > Shama Lama Ding Dong[3] -> The Empress Of Organos
Coach's Notes:
[1] The Clash.
[2] Fat Freddy's Drop.
[3] Otis Day and The Knights.
The penultimate show of Goose’s European tour took place in London last night at the 1,500-capacity Electric Ballroom. After playing on a tiny boat in Bristol the night before, the biggest venue of the tour felt absolutely massive - AND the band sold out both nights!
There have been a higher number of locals at the shows on the UK leg, and there were London faithful everywhere last night, all stoked for their first Goose experience and then absolutely blown away by the band.
The show began with “Arrow,” opening a first set for the first time since December, 31, 2021. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach’s guitar tone stuck out during the composed portion of the song, its distinctive crunch really getting emphasized when used with the wah pedal. The jam never strayed far from the song proper but featured some excellent guitar work from Rick Mitarotonda, proving that “Arrow” works really well as a fiery opener to get everyone settled in for the rest of the show.
Yet another jamless version of “Borne” led to a blazing hot “Lead Up,” once again highlighting the power of two-guitar Goose as the set continued. Percussionist Jeff Arevalo fronted the quintet on The Clash’s “Rock The Casbah” next, a nice ode to London that many locals in attendance absolutely went wild for.
Anspach boogied through the ensuing “Slow Ready” that brought the house down and the energy even further up – something I really didn’t think was possible at that point. “Silver Rising” gave us a power ballad breather and another incredible Mitarotonda solo before a powerful “Hot Tea” closed the set. This wasn’t your average British cup, as Anspach led us off with an extended electric piano solo, taking it to several strong peaks before the main jam section was the Mitarotonda show. Modulating out of the song’s normal key, the guitarist put his foot to the floor atop drummer Ben Atkind’s steady dance beat and ripped out filthy lick after filthy lick to close the set with a huge bang.
Set two began with one of Goose’s best covers, the synthed-out “Fish in the Sea.” The room got grooving as the band dropped the jam of the night in “Red Bird,” played for Anspach’s mom Rita who was in attendance. The improv took its time developing and emerged into a patient and quieter space similar to what we saw during the Amsterdam “Electric Avenue” earlier in the tour. Thanks to Atkind’s continued work on a steady pulse, Anspach and Mitarotonda were able to probe the space with beautiful melodies and synth pads, offering a unique full-band theme instead of the usual guitar-centric jamming.
This patient build continued steadily with excellent contributions from Anspach’s marimba piano before exploding into a great final peak and segueing into the perfect second-set landing pad in “Moby.” This has always been one of my favourite Goose songs and I was ecstatic to get it at my 50th show – I may have set a new world record for long jump as I leapt toward my friends in excitement!
The first non-festival “Arcadia” of the tour came next – and this is where the energy reached its maximum. The jam initially dipped into bliss waters after the initial clav-funk section, staying there and letting loose some amazing interplay before a beautifully patient (yes, I keep using that word) final build into the ending left jaws agape at the incredibly hot guitar solo we had just witnessed. “Arcadia” forever will be that Goose song!
“The Empress of Organos” acted as the set closer for the third time this tour – but with an exuberant “Shama Lama Ding Dong” sandwiched within.
It’s seriously hard to believe that tonight is the final show of the European tour – there’s going to be something special in store for those of us in London…watch out! Thank you to Goose for an unforgettable three weeks - let’s get that Madhuvan!!
This show was a great combination of creative improv (Red Bird gets a serious and deep take) and Type 1 bangers. This is an awesome version of Hot Tea! Will be saving this one. And really loved this Borne. Thanks for all you do!