Show Review - Goose 3/9/23 Port Chester, NY
Goose threw down another heater on Thursday night at The Capitol Theatre for the second of five shows at the historic venue. While nothing quite reached the improvisational heights of Wednesday’s show, the band but together two well-flowing and complete sets with fantastic moments throughout.
Beginning the night with a hot “Jive I”, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda and multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach took their usual spotlights on the song with energetic solos as the crowd got warmed up. A jamless “Atlas Dogs” followed before the quintet fired up Anspach tune “Elizabeth.” The first extended jamming of the night, while just barely cracking the 10-minute mark, saw the band get into some nice churning themes.
The slinky vibe of “California Magic” fit the vibe of the first set perfectly before a new double-time arrangement of “Borne” was tapped next. Part of this new take on the song is a much cleaner slide into the jam which the band took full advantage of, developing a spacey theme with reverb-drenched piano at the forefront. Bassist Trevor Weekz led a slow build as the band worked together in a very democratic fashion. Drummer Ben Atkind pounded away at his toms as the jam build to a solid peak.
Anspach stepped out again on the Vintage Vibe outro to “The Old Man’s Boat” before Mitarotonda led Goose into “Rockdale.” Getting into the grime immediately, Anspach’s low clavinet colouring and Weekz’ deep bass accentuated Mitarotonda’s tension-building guitar as the band built to several phenomenal and explosive peaks to close out the first set.
The second set began in fine fashion with a long “Tumble.” The jam began with its classic dual-guitar churn groove as Mitarotonda got the energy of the crowd up. After hitting a first peak, the band took the vibe down and Anspach hit the keyboards. Displaying his impressive interplay with Mitarotonda that we’ve been seeing this week, Goose dove deep into a quieter section within “Tumble” that gave percussionist Jeff Arevalo an opportunity to really step to the sonic forefront of the jam.
Reaching a progression reminiscent of “Love is a Battlefield,” Mitarotonda took back the reins of the improv and built back to a final peak and return to the song. The guitarist then fronted the quintet on the debut of original “Not Alone,” a tender ballad that was received extremely well by the crowd – it acted as the perfect breather between two big second-set jams.
“Rosewood Heart” was tapped next and saw Anspach dialing up percussive loops on his Prophet synthesizer as Goose took a very different route in the jam. Eschewing the normal Type I section, they opted for a funky and percussive groove that had the venue getting down for its duration. A powerful rendition of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” came next before Goose ripped out “Madhuvan” to close the set.
Few songs elicit a crowd reaction on the level of this massive jam vehicle, and last night was no different. Beginning in a space not unlike its counterpart from Glens Falls this past November, Anspach laid down low tones on the Vintage Vibe while simultaneously creating feedback from his guitar, lending to the immediate dark and eerie tone of the jam. Patiently exploring every inch of this motif, Weekz dropped massive bombs as synthesizer loops and guitar arpeggios dominated the space. Gradually picking up steam, the improv took on a lighter tone as the band hit on their second “Loose Ends” tease of the week. Continuing the huge build, Mitarotonda led his bandmates into the ending of “Madhuvan” at full tilt, bringing an excellent set and show to a close. A brief encore of “Turned Clouds” sent the crowd home happy.
With three nights to go and an incredible amount of songs left to play, Goose is poised to really throw down this weekend at the Cap – do NOT miss a night!
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