Show Review - Goose 4/9/24 Port Chester, NY

Bird'n

Set 1: Wysteria Lane > Echo of a Rose^[1] > Bob Don^[2], It Burns Within, Thatch, Give It Time^[3]

Set 2: Red Bird > So Ready, Spirit Of The Dark Horse > The Labyrinth, Madhuvan

Encore: Same Old Shenanigans

Coach's Notes:
    [1] Fast version.
    [2] With.
    [3] FTP as Goose.

Show Notes: It Burns Within was played for the first time since March 12, 2023 (79 shows).

Opening a show with “Wysteria Lane” is kind of a massive power move. Just saying.

Goose returned to the Cap on Tuesday night for the third of four shows showcasing new drummer Cotter Ellis with another strong debut, a bevy of songs from Shenanigans Nite Club late in the show, and a number of standout jams. Let’s dive in.

As I mentioned in the opening line, there’s not really a way to get a jam chaser like myself more excited than beginning a first set with “Wysteria.” The band seemed excited about it too and delivered a great 18-minute rendition, starting in a familiar dual-guitar churning space. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach utilized delay effects in his distinctive style, swirling around guitarist Rick Mitarotonda’s subtle leads in a cloud of harsh and feedback-heavy tone.

Building to a rolling boil, the intensity dissolved at the 15-minute mark into a few minutes of gorgeous and patient space. Anspach moved to Vintage Vibe as the chill major-key motif took over the jam. Mitarotonda’s delay-drenched arpeggiated licks went hand-in-hand with bassist Trevor Weekz’ upper-register melodies. This section seemed to have a ton of exploration and potential, continuing the patience theme from the previous night, but the band instead opted to rip into “Echo of a Rose.”

It seemed as though we may have been poised for a jam-filled first set based on this song choice, but after an incendiary solo from Mitarotonda, the guitarist brought the upbeat song to its natural conclusion and dug into “Bob Don.” Anspach utilized Vintage Vibe on the verses of this traditionally guitar-led song for the first time ever, switching back to axe for that signature thick and grimy tone for the chorus.

A brief flirtation with a “With” outro led to the first “It Burns Within” since last year’s Cap run, breaking a 79-show gap. One of two very meaningful Mitarotonda/Matt Campbell songs to be played in this first set, this Orebolo staple’s return to the Goose stage was an amazing moment.

The energy of the set quickly picked back up as the opening riff to “Thatch” was met with uproarious cheers. A favourite of band and audience alike, this was one of the most-anticipated songs to be played – along with dancier songs like “Creatures” and “Myst,” “Thatch” was very well-suited to Ben Atkind’s tight funk grooves and many wondered if it would hit the same with Ellis behind the kit.

Spoiler: it did. Anspach’s clav tone continued to be filthy and absolutely PERFECT through the song portion, and the quintet blasted into the jam with an insane amount of momentum behind them. Weekz led the charge with some deep and aggressive riffs at first before the improv began to cool with Anspach’s switch to his OB-6 synthesizer, laying down light chords. Percussionist Jeff Arevalo went to work with some excellent accents over Ellis’ busy beats as the jam began to build back up.

A straight-ahead funk party ensued with all five band members locked in around the “Thatch” jam, returning to the song in an explosion of energy – much like early versions from 2023, it’s apparent that this song has a lot more in the way of deep jamming in store for the rest of the year, so strap in and get ready to be THATCHED.

For the set closer, Goose opted to debut an older Vasudo song called “Give it Time,” played once before in September 2022 by Mitarotonda, Arevalo, and Campbell. Evoking a message of hope for the future, this instantly felt like a winner to me with its anthemic chorus and Peter Gabriel-like musicality. Ellis and Arevalo’s tom-heavy beat was powerful and allowed the lyrics to really shine – I expect we’ll all be belting along with the band during the chorus.

To open the second set, the band delivered one of the finest jams of the run so far our of “Red Bird,” which was also the first Anspach-fronted tune of the show.

Mitarotonda soared through an initial Type I solo before the jam began to quiet just before the 10-minute mark. Ellis pushed the pace as the guitarist introduced some grimy octave-down riffs, adding a sinister tone to the music as Anspach stuck to brighter piano work.

Mitarotonda allowed some blasts of sustain to add some extra layers as the momentum grew. Anspach switched into some repetitive percussive chords as the guitarist stuck to lower-register playing. Weekz dropped subtle envelope-filtered bombs. The aggression began to fragment as Mitarotonda purposefully began to fade out into the background more, activating layers of reverb as he sparred with Anspach’s piano work. Ellis’ fluid drumming gave Weekz the opportunity to be more sparse with his playing instead of laying in the pocket as he is wont to do, shaping the music into some incredibly democratic full-band jamming.

By the 17-minute mark, it seemed as though chaos was ensuing through all the band members’ leadership roles overlapping, yet there was a certain sense of cohesion to the improv that is so sought-after by Goose fans.

At the 18-minute mark, Mitarotonda and Weekz hit a major modulation together – so smoothly – and the swirling maelstrom of notes quieted more, except for Ellis’ insistent drumming. Reverb abounded both from piano and guitar as Weekz continued to assert on his own spaceship of effects through the transition to the next idea.

Mitarotonda activated his Whammy octave-up chirp as Weekz leaned into CHORDS, of all things – anchoring the psychedelic and floaty jam that had developed. Hitting into a three-chord progression, we existed in a blissy zone that was anything but your ordinary major-key jam, building to an exceptional peak led by the continuing efforts of Ellis and Arevalo behind their respective kits. In the moment, I remember being floored by the jam, the way lighting designer Andrew Goedde’s lights circled the room, and the collective feeling of joy created by the final peak.

Ellis returned to the “Red Bird” drumbeat for the final minute as the reverb-soaked guitar leads gradually faded away into quiet.

Wasting no time after the big jam, Mitarotonda lit into an energetic “So Ready,” not my favourite call for mid-second set after a big jam. The ensuing “Spirit of the Dark Horse” was a welcome rarity, though it felt incomplete due to lack of a jam. “The Labyrinth,” another rare song, filled out the middle part of the set with a more dynamic take than at Red Rocks last fall – but still remains a song I’d rather see placed outside of the second set.

The Shenanigans Nite Club theme of the set became apparent with the opening strains of “Madhuvan,” which also swooped in as the jam saviour of the second frame, giving it really strong bookends.

The deconstruction right at the beginning of the jam went further out into space than normal, without any semblance of a beat or anchoring form initially. Moments of quiet were broken by Weekz’ bright bass work and cymbal textures from Ellis, while Anspach sprinkled in wiggles of OB-6. Mitarotonda utilized his tremolo pedal for more textures as the jam began to coalesce out of the haze.

Mitarotonda led the way with some sinister melodies as Anspach sprinkled Vintage Vibe over the top. The evil tones became more prevalent as the Vintage Vibe chords swirled around (very similar to what we heard early on in the 4/8 “Myst”), building as one unit. CHAOS returned and reigned over a beautifully dissonant theme with tinges of the Eastern vibe that Mitarotonda is so fond of as the “Madhuvan” hit a high level of churn.

Continuing to build around his original riff, Mitarotonda shot a glance behind him to Ellis that signaled a tempo increase as the drummer began to push forward even more and the band built frenetically before a high-octane finish to the song and set, exhilarating peaks full of Anspach whooping with delight.

There was one Shenanigans song left on the table for the encore – “SOS.” This song is perfectly suited to this slot, with its 15 minutes of pure joy and exuberance. The band and crowd locked in one last time for the show before finishing off the penultimate night of the run with smiles and joy.

Despite some questionable song choices in the second set, this was overall another win for Goose as they headed into the last night of the run – the Driptych was on everyone’s minds, but we really had no idea what was to come…

4/10 recap coming tomorrow :)