Show Review - Goose 11/8/24 Cincinnati, OH

An Ohio Band

Goose’s history in the Cincinnati area dates back to the early days of the band – they amassed a dedicated following in Covington with multi-night runs at The Octave in 2018 and has always brought their A-game when in the area since.

After an electrifying conclusion to 2022 took place at The Andrew J Brady Music Center, anticipation of a return to the venue for a whopping three nights in the midst of their fall tour. Band and crowd brought it last night, putting together a pretty much perfect setlist along with some incredible explorations in group improv and sonic spaces.

Additionally, with a 7:30 showtime and 11:30 curfew, the band was able to stretch out comfortably with two lengthy sets for a rare occasion in 2024 where the hard stop at the end of the night was not an issue.

The band took the stage just before 8 with the indie-groove version of “Atlas Dogs,” setting the tone for the night nicely before jumping into “Elizabeth.” Once again packing a ton of meaningful music into a relatively short ten minutes, drummer Cotter Ellis locking in early on a peppy tempo, laying down a foundation for guitarist Rick Mitarotonda to play some choppy rhythm work over.

Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach layered in some thick clavinet chords, leading the band into a peaky progression early and building from there, taking the focal point and idea and continuing to expand outward with new layers and tones. Mitarotonda took the reins and built a series of rolling peaks that got bigger with each time through, eventually exploding back into the conclusion of “Elizabeth” with a fiery extra-mustard finish.

“All I Need” was tapped next and continued the flow of the set nicely, opening up and mellowing out quickly into a drum-driven space. Bassist Trevor Weekz sparred with Mitarotonda for a spell, the latter filling the air with delay-drenched leads.

Developing into a serene space with bright marimba piano from Anspach, the band moved close to the “One In, One Out” segue that was still a few minutes away, hinting at the song’s vibe without fully teasing or committing. Mitarotonda threw a few more melancholy-sounding leads into the space before dialling back the delay and bringing up the intensity. Ellis continued to lead the groove with a smooth and rolling drumbeat, supporting Mitarotonda through a strong peak.

Cooling off, the band nailed the transition into “One In, One Out,” Anspach leading the band through his tune confidently. Ellis actually broke his snare toward the end of “AIN,” leading to drum tech Jordan Gauthier engineering a mid-song rescue by actually kneeling by the kit and holding together the wires on the snare for several minutes before the drum could be replaced.

Next up was far from your typical version of “Flodown” – Anspach began the intro with some swirling delay piano work, engaging in some rapid-fire interplay with Mitarotonda. The band took things down and seemed to be poised to drop into the song proper, but Anspach had other ideas and began to swirl Moog Muse synth across the rollicking beat, giving things a darker tone. Mitarotonda ran with the idea and shredded through a tension-filled section that makes this version of “Flodown” stand as the best one I can recall hearing possibly ever.

“Silver Rising” acted as a great late-set breather before things really kicked into another gear with “Big Modern!” to close the first frame. Anspach used Vintage Vibe on this tune for the first time instead of a Wurlitzer patch on his Nord Stage, giving things a thicker and more full-bodied feel than prior versions.

Mitarotonda began the jam with some angular rhythm work, finding a cool riff around the 9-minute mark to vamp on for a bit. Weekz and Anspach threw a melody back and forth next before Mitarotonda picked it up, beginning to take things outside of the usual “BM!” space. Multi-instrumentalist Jeff Arevalo infused the jam with some of his trademark Bob Weir-esque chordal stabs, adding some extra layers to the sound before Mitarotonda began to bring things into a darker space.

Weekz took a super active role in the ensuing transition, building some tension with some bubbly high-register riffs as Anspach switched to piano and began to chase Mitarotonda down some dissonant scales. Things developed fully into an uneasy space, the three main melodic players engaging in some excellent back-and-forth while Arevalo poured tones over the lot of it.

Mitarotonda initiated a smooth major-key modulation from there, calming things down into an almost “Dragonfly”-like space – Weekz continuing the descending motif from earlier before Ellis took the lead and picked up the tempo into a driving groove.

Keeping things toward the ambient side for a spell, Anspach subtly spread some sparkling synth into the jam before returning to piano and beginning a forward drive. Mitarotonda found a new riff that Anspach and Weekz both fed off of again before going off on their own.

As the intensity and tempo increased, so too did the urgency of Mitarotonda’s playing as he switched on his octave-up Whammy effect for a while. The peak that followed took on an almost bluesy vibe for a bit, reminding me of a faster-paced version of the final section of the St. Louis “Borne” from this past June.

Things crescendoed on a massive scale as the band tore through peak after peak before settling into the ascending finale to “Big Modern!” proper. Screaming through the finish to the set, the crowd roared in approval for what had just transpired and in anticipation of the second set.

Returning with “Thatch,” things were set up for absolute greatness in the second set as the band confidently dropped into the jam. Anspach began by going crazy mad scientist mode with some insane synth swirls from the Muse and a subtle OB-6 drone before switching to clav funk.

I mentioned in my review of Pittsburgh how integral Anspach has been with simple-but-effective keyboard riffs in recent jams, and the motif he found early on in “Thatch” not only is an incredible earworm, but it would go on to inform the rest of the massive jam’s trajectory.

As Anspach repeated his phased-clav riff, Weekz began to toy around with a new progression underneath Mitarotonda’s choppy rhythm work, the band smoothly latching on to the musical idea and beginning to build in the uplifting zone from there.

Mitarotonda showed restraint as the intensity began to rise, emerging from rhythm work for a repeating ascending riff and then diving back in to chords. Locking together on the progression and milking it for every ounce it was worth, the five members of Goose became pieces of a collective musical brain, something that has been happening more and more as 2024 has gone on. What was fresh and new in April has now become commonplace – but not in a bad way, as it shows how confidently and easily the band is able to slip into a more democratic jamming style as opposed to one member leading for extended periods of time.

Last night’s “Thatch” simply blew my mind and has continued to on repeated listens. There’s so much to unpack in each segment, and now writing this on my fourth listen to the jam I’m still hearing new moments from each member.

After showing restraint for so long, Mitarotonda let loose several minutes of volcanic soloing to bring “Thatch” to a staggering peak – just when you thought he was bringing it home, they’d reach a new level of energy. MAGIC.

Smashing into the ending of the song, the band took a moment to breathe and luxuriate in the crowd’s feral energy before cooling things off with “The Old Man’s Boat.” Normally not a song I’d be super excited about in the middle of the second set, Goose finally took the “Boat” out for a serious sail after a few years of relative stagnation.

Quickly setting off at a faster pace than normal, Weekz stuck out with incredibly clear and articulate riffs, cutting through the mix like he was standing right next to me. Mitarotonda turned on some sharp MuTron work early on as Anspach flipped on his arpeggiator, making it clear fairly quickly that this would not be your standard “Boat” jam.

Heavy Vintage Vibe play is characteristic of this song and is usually the focal point of the brief bouts of improv, but last night’s play from Anspach’s side felt more inspired than normal, especially with the way the show had played out until that moment. The intensity picked up a little as things stayed within “Boat,” but Weekz initiated a transition out of the standard progression by hanging on the E-flat, giving things a more percussive and driving feel as Mitarotonda returned to MuTron land.

It just felt effortless at this point as the band rode the wave of the synth arpeggiator and Ellis’ pulsating dance groove, getting into what I can best describe as a “sweaty” jam section.

Spacing out after several minutes of intense dance-jamming, the band modulated keys and flowed incredibly smoothly into the opening to “Fish in the Sea,” once again thanks to the arpeggiator.

One of Goose’s best covers, “Fish” always thrives mid-second set and last night’s is easily one of the best versions played to date, diving right back into the grimy, late-night party vibe started with “Boat.” This one got a little bit of extra mustard than normal, Mitarotonda clearly feeling it and hitting some vicious and aggressive guitar zones that are atypical for even this song’s nasty groove.

Just when you thought it might be time for a cooldown, Goose opted for “Pancakes” – and let me tell you, don’t let the 14-minute runtime fool you. While most versions of this length feature a strong Type I jam, this one departs standard territory almost immediately, and was so quick to get out there that I thought the band might be segueing rather than diving into more improv.

Things slowed way down as Mitarotonda turned on heavy digital sauce, riffing around Anspach’s bright piano work with the heavy synth effects as Weekz circles both of them with heavy melodies of his own.

Mitarotonda’s playing became more of a wall of noise than individual notes for a while, letting bass and keys lead the way as Ellis began to pump the tempo back up. Surging forward into a blistering peak, the band wrapped up what I was sure had to be a 25-minute “Pancakes” but was over ten minutes shorter. At this point in the show, I was in awe of what the band had accomplished and well aware of the fact that we were in the midst of an all-timer performance.

The set finally got its cooldown with a gorgeous and tender debut of Father John Misty’s “So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain,” a welcome addition to the catalog that has a similar vibe to “Brokedown Palace,” Anspach’s steady and quiet organ throughout the song giving a really nice layer to the ballad.

The set closed with the always-reliable “SOS,” featuring a popped string from Mitarotonda toward the end of his blazing solo – it threw the rest of his guitar wildly out of tune but Anspach swooped in and took the reins while the guitarist tuned back up and finished things out with a fiery five-string finish.

Without the chance to re-string the Empress guitar before the encore, we got the long-awaited stage debut of Rick’s new DeLuis guitar, dubbed Dracul. While my ear isn’t quite sophisticated enough to pick out the major differences between the two instruments, I thought the new guy sounded excellent through the “Turn On Your Love Light” encore, and Mitarotonda seemed to be feeling the same way as he shredded through peak after peak.

As Anspach remarked before the encore – Goose is an Ohio band. Last night demonstrated their connection to the area and how an amazing crowd brings out the best in the band. The musical journey they’ve been on since the beginning of September has been about trying to really figure out what late 2024 Goose is all about – settled in with the new drummer, deep into listening to each other, and having all their efforts bear fruit on a consistent basis.

With the way they’re playing now, I wish this tour had more than four shows left – but we’re back at the Brady tonight for round two in Cincy! Livestreams are available exclusively to nugs subscribers.