Show Review - Goose 3/10/23 Port Chester, NY
For the third of five nights at the Capitol Theatre, Goose delivered two blazing sets that were lighter on the improv than the first two shows but had possibly the highest energy of the run so far.
Opening up the night with a funky “Animal,” the band jumped into a concise “Flodown” next where multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach threw in Prophet synth sounds as guitarist Rick Mitarotonda toyed with his delay pedals. Upbeat rocker “Everything Must Go” and Anspach tune “The Whales” continued the set before the energy really got taken up a few notches with “Turbulence & The Night Rays.”
The rocking Vasudo-penned song seems to reach new heights each time it gets played, and Mitarotonda’s emphatic solo had the packed Cap eager for more. Anspach took a second to introduce the next song, debut “Lead Up.” Displaying a rocking vibe similar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at times, “Lead Up” retained that distinctive Goose sound as well as showing off the band’s dual-guitar sound – the last two Goose original debuts with Anspach on guitar were “Butterflies” in June 2022 and “The Whales” in June 2020!
The momentum and energy of the first set came to a peak with crowd and band favourite “Thatch,” which featured its first extended improv and some mind-blowing work from drummer Ben Atkind and percussionist Jeff Arevalo, the latter of whom seemed to be at risk of breaking his cymbals from the sheer force of his hits.
Returning from a lengthy setbreak, Anspach took a stroll into the crowd during the intro to “Creatures.” The dance party song morphed into a gorgeous bliss jam distinctly reminiscent of its counterpart from Legend Valley in 2022. Bassist Trevor Weekz really stepped out in this segment, while Atkind spun a beat that made the jam feel like the beginning of an “Empress of Organos” jam. Slowly returning to earth, Anspach led the band into “Red Bird” as lighting director Andrew Goedde bathed the stage in that colour for the duration of the song.
The bird took flight with a rocking jam led once again by the rhythm section – Atkind’s pounding toms and Weekz’s bursting envelope filter playing propelled the quintet to a series of big peaks ahead of a transition into Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Offering up the finest improvisation of the night, the classic cover tune quickly opened up into a thrashing groove as Mitarotonda took the reins with some serious fretboard fireworks. Building into some darker themes, Goose exploded into an amazing major-key section with strong “SOS” vibes before landing in tender ballad “Arise.”
Most known for its acoustic performances with offshoot group Orebolo, this gorgeous and heartfelt song translated exceptionally well to an electric setting for just the fifth time ever. Arevalo made an inside reference to a well-known acoustic performance with a reminder for the crowd to “zip it” before the song began (note: his instruction was followed by some, but not all). A blazing “Hot Tea” complete with filthy wah guitar from Mitarotonda, crunchy clav from Anspach, and a bass solo from Trevor closed out the set.
Goose welcomed comedian Jimmy Fallon to the stage for an encore of “Mustang Sally” last night that had the crowd eating up every moment of the fun shtick.
Two nights remain in Goose’s Cap run and there are still an incredible amount of songs on the table – maybe we’ll finally get that Lily’s Tiger bustout…