Show Review - Goose 4/18/23 Bozeman, MT
Goose’s spring tour landed in Bozeman, Montana last night for the first of two nights at The Elm – a 1,000 capacity room opened just over a year and a half ago. The band performed there once (2/7/22) and left it in smoldering ruins after a show containing multiple massive jams and incredible setlist flow.
Last night was lighter on deep jamming and went more in the vein of straight-ahead rock and roll for much of the two-set performance.
Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach put on a clinic in the opening “Jive II” as he lit up both clav and organ ahead of a soaring guitar solo from Rick Mitarotonda. The quintet then embarked on a nearly 19-minute rendition of “Elizabeth,” really setting the rock vibe for the rest of the night. While the improvisation never strayed too far from the root of the song, the dual-drum attack of Ben Atkind and Jeff Arevalo choogled along as Mitarotonda unleashed flurries of impressive licks and riffs as the steady groove built to numerous peaks.
Anspach shone again on the ensuing “Travelers,” crafting a beautiful and melodic solo on his Prophet-6 synthesizer. “Thatch” offered some deep funk once again courtesy of the rhythm section – specifically 2023 MVP Trevor Weekz, whose bass bombs seemed to rattle the venue at its very foundations.
The first set seemed to fly by as closer “Turbulence & The Night Rays” brought the frame to a close after just short of 70 minutes.
The second set began with a strong “Rockdale,” Mitarotonda once again stepping to the forefront and leading the band through a series of strong peaks. “The Empress of Organos” was tapped for a rare mid-set appearance next and saw Arevalo go ham on his new LP congas, even going so far as to punch the gong instead of using his mallet.
The “Empress” jam followed its usual pattern of a strong Anspach piano solo into a Mitarotonda-led section but took a turn as the guitarist led the band into an atypical quiet section. Quickly locking in on a pattern based around a double hit, all five members contributed to the theme as it reached a strong peak and finished out the song. “Rosewood Heart” would be up next and featured what was undoubtedly the jam of the night. The improv began gently with some nice interplay between Anspach and Mitarotonda. The former dialed in the marimba-layered piano sound he has grown so fond of recently as Atkind leaned heavily into tom work, giving the music an almost tribal feel.
Weekz smoothly introduced an undercurrent of a more menacing tone underneath the soaring leads as Goose hinted at the themes to come. Lighting director Andrew Goedde brought the tone way down post-peak with some sweeping backlit colours (watch the webcast for this amazing visual!) as Atkind and Weekz locked in on a driving groove. Anspach frequently switches from guitar to keyboards during jams, but this “Rosewood” was a rare occasion of the reverse. Immediately diving into a choppy rhythm pattern, the true power of dual-guitar Goose was displayed as the music got funkier and the groove deeper.
A smooth segue into Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes,” busted out for the first time since 11/16/21, gave way to a rare late-set “Red Bird” that featured a lyric change to reference the winter weather developing outside. This song has really led to some awe-inspiring improv in its outings during spring tour so far, reaching deep Type II spaces in relatively short time frames. Last night’s “Red Bird” ended up on the short side but contained a blistering rock jam based on the “Heartbreaker” (Led Zeppelin) riff. First introduced by Anspach and then locked on to by Mitarotonda, the rock and roll vibe of the show culminated in this section before a cool segue into a set-closing “Butter Rum” was executed by the guitarist.
Encoring with the funky dance party “A Fifth of Beethoven,” Goose left the capacity Bozeman crowd on a high note and ready to rock a second night of energetic music.
Will the trend of Montana “Escape” covers continue? Tune in tonight to find out…