Show Review - Goose 11/4/23 Cologne, DE

Goose’s Europe tour continued last night in Cologne, Germany, where the band played a 2019-sized gig to a few hundred people squeezed into a club. Another early showtime and a 9:30 curfew was set due to a late-night DJ in the same room after the show.

While Paris’ small venue still fit 700 people and had an ample stage size for the band’s gear, last night’s sweaty club saw the band members essentially on top of each other as they used every inch of available space on the tiny stage.

The night began with “Atlas Dogs,” always a solid call to open a show and a launchpad for whatever song follows – in this case, “Jive I.” The upbeat rocker was played without its closing chords and featured a bit of an intro jam, leading many in the audience to believe it was actually “Jive Lee.”

Hot solos from both keyboardist Peter Anspach and guitarist Rick Mitarotonda led to a bright rendition of “Butterflies,” its frenetic clouds of Mitarotonda loops filling every corner of the space.

“Rockdale” offered the first extended improv the night as it dove into some grimy funk. Mitarotonda activated the octave-down growl on his Whammy pedal as Anspach attacked his piano. Some excellent builds ensued with a steady pocket created by the rhythm section – an always-fun rendition of an amazing song.

Type II was achieved in the following “Echo of a Rose,” where the band broke from standard play into a breezy motif atop bassist Trevor Weekz’s incredible anchoring work. Drummer Ben Atkind kept the motor running steadily as Mitarotonda uncorked a melodic and beautiful solo that swept through a sustained peak. Nice piano and guitar interplay informed the transition into a spacier mode that eventually wound down and bled into the beginning of “Borne.”

With an incredibly jammed spring and a jamless fall, “Borne” has had many different forms as of late – and last night saw the jam return for the first time since July. Goose took the funkier “2001”-esque route instead of the slower and spacey version as Anspach danced across some excellent electric piano work. A subtle shift from Atkind in the drumbeat acted as the beginning of a beautiful segue into a cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” to close the set.

An exceptionally short setbreak due to the early curfew led to a second-set-opening “Into the Myst.” Sadly getting left unfinished like so many versions in 2023, the quintet fired up the first cover of “Mas Que Nada” since April – and this may have been my jam of the night. At a mere 12 minutes, Goose packed some dense improv into the cover, getting heavy and dark after a few minutes of contained play. Anspach doubled piano and organ with dissonant lines as Mitarotonda engaged one of his cyclical evil riffs (see also: 3/24/23 and  4/22/23 “Echo”). Some light shrieking in breaks added to the cacophony as the segment peaked and finished “Mas” in fine fashion.

A rare mid-set “Hot Tea” continued the absolute party vibe in the small club with a HUGE version. Once again, Anspach’s electric piano patch on his Nord Stage was perfect throughout his excellent solo, but the real fireworks began in the full jam segment. Some nice clav work ensued as the melodic instruments began to poke and prod at the limits of the “Tea” theme. Waves of synths came in as the build continued, pumping up the energy with each turn around the chord progression. Anspach’s repeating riff on piano and Mitarotonda’s thick tone over a bedrock of rhythm section kept people dancing, and Goose eventually reached a towering peak as they finished out the song.

Cooldown “Your Ocean” was absolutely GORGEOUS and once again displayed the European crowd’s willingness to stop and listen to the music instead of talking through a quiet ballad. With 20 minutes left until curfew, the band uncorked a solid “Arrow” to send us out into the German night.

Two nights off now before tour picks back up in Amsterdam on Tuesday night at Melkweg!