Show Review - Goose 6/23/24 Charlotte, NC

Hot off of three amazing shows at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, Goose tour continued on Sunday night in Charlotte, playing to a packed Skyla Amphitheatre on a sweltering evening. In stark contrast to the air-conditioned room in ATL, Skyla featured your classic outdoor layout with a pit, seats, and a lawn – holding 5k people packed in from end to end of the sprawling GA area.

There was some fatigue evident from the band as they took the stage, both likely due to the extreme heat at showtime and it being their fourth night in a row. “Earthling or Alien?” was a great choice to start, however, and highlighted Peter Anspach’s excellent clav work instead of the OB-6 synth-heavy versions they’ve been playing this year.

“Lead Up” and “Turned Clouds” continued the first set as the sun finally began to sink toward the horizon, leading into the first extended jam of the night in “Yeti.” Diving headlong into two-guitar funk, Rick Mitarotonda quickly activated a sharp envelope filter on his instrument, marking the effect’s return to his pedalboard after a couple of years away – much to my delight.

Bassist Trevor Weekz dug in on some vicious slap work as Goose raged through the nearly 15-minute “Yeti” jam, delivering a nonstop funk party that finally seemed to kick the energy of the crowd into a higher gear. “Borne” created a gorgeous vibe for the sunset, drummer Cotter Ellis’ laid-back drumbeat letting Anspach and Mitarotonda paint overtop with a commitment to patience and quieter dynamics. Percussionist Jeff Arevalo added some great cymbal crashes to the mix as a low synth drone continued underneath.

Photo by Adam Berta

The intensity picked up a bit with Anspach’s groovy Vintage Vibe work and Mitarotonda’s return to envelope filter land. A laid-back bliss progression developed next with some great duelling between guitar and keyboards that saw Anspach turn on a slow phase effect. Mitarotonda then took the lead with some fiery soloing before “Borne” gradually faded away into the evening air.

The 97-show bustout of “Love is a Battlefield” came next (preceded by a very cool space-texture intro) and was expected to close the set, but Goose opted for a run through “Butter Rum” instead, bringing the 90-minute frame to a close with some minor-key ripping.

With only just over an hour to go until curfew when the second set began, Goose came out with a mission to jam as they started up “Echo of a Rose.” Mitarotonda tore through the Type I jam with an already-elevated sense of energy from set 1 as Anspach threw in some sly “Pancakes” teases on piano. Weekz matched some of the guitar melodies with some higher-register playing, then dug back in on the low end as Mitarotonda continued to confidently lead the way through several more peaks.

Quickly departing into a fast and percussive space thanks to Ellis’ insistent beat, Anspach went to marimba piano and a great full-band motif developed with guitar and keys once again engaging in an elegant dance around each other. Ellis got propulsive next, working his ride cymbal aggressively as Mitarotonda found a riff he liked. This minor-key exploration continued for a while with the intensity gradually rising, Mitarotonda focusing on some choppy rhythm work rather than fully let loose on a solo.

Hitting back into a transitional percussive space, Anspach led the way into psychedelia by infusing a synth drone underneath the rest of the band as Mitarotonda augmented his tone with some octave-down Whammy effects and began to drive to a big peak. Sitting on the precipice of bliss and minor key, this extended section was easily the highlight of the night and once again hinted at “Pancakes,” this time on guitar.

As a lover of big multi-section jams, I was ecstatic when the band came down from the peak and continued atop a soft bed of piano, developing into a two-chord power jam that hit another amazing peak before returning home to the conclusion of “Echo.”

With the big statement jam of the show now in the bag, Goose took a breather with “Seekers on the Ridge” before starting up “Madhuvan,” much to the delight of the crowd. With an eye on the clock, the band could have stretched out another big jam, but instead opted to work in the first “Secret Agent Man” in 240 shows as the meat of a “Madhuvan” sandwich. With some incredible dissonant and spacey jamming on either side and a blistering finish, the cover was executed perfectly – the payoff to the numerous teases of the main riff by Mitarotonda in recent shows.

Photo by Adam Berta

Before the encore, Anspach shouted out superfan Lucas Anderton, who was celebrating his 100^th show on Sunday. The band continues to show a strong sense of community with their fans – this is a crazy milestone to hit in just a few years of seeing them!

“Arcadia” was the perfect choice to end the night, complete with “Nebula” teases by Mitarotonda and a kickass bliss jam reminiscent of 11/16/19 and 11/17/22 versions.

Goose’s five-show run through the south wrapped up on a high note as they headed north to Portland to begin the final stretch of their summer tour.