Show Review - Goose 6/25/24 Portland, ME

Goose’s summer tour headed north for the first of two nights at Thompson’s Point in Portland, ME last night, kicking off the final week of the month-long trek. Now three weeks and 15 shows into the tour, the five members of the band are locked in and continue to offer fresh jams, cover bustouts, and amazing moments nearly every night.

With an early showtime and hot weather (though not nearly as hot as Sunday in Charlotte), Goose took the stage with a breezy “Time to Flee” opener, letting them stretch out early without going too deep. Peter Anspach led the initial jam with some light piano work that hinted at “Terrapin Station” ahead of a solid peak led by guitarist Rick Mitarotonda to wrap up the relatively concise song.

The first “Liza Jane” since March 1, 2022 – 178 shows – ended up being just as long as “Flee” was, the band clearly having a ball with the bouncy song and its fiery solos. Chick Corea’s “Spain” came next for its first appearance in 135 shows and the band deftly navigated its complexities, showing off the third very different style of music in as many songs.

Open-ended jamming began in earnest next with the opening of “All I Need,” which saw the band lock in on some more grounded improv as opposed to some of the more synth-heavy jams that have happened as of late. Drummer Cotter Ellis embarked onto a circular-feeling beat with heavy tom work and snare rolls which left plenty of space for the other band members to throw out ideas. Anspach’s sporadic piano work locked in with the drums as Mitarotonda and bassist Trevor Weekz took on a busier role, though keeping it relatively mellow at first.

Increasing the intensity of his playing, Mitarotonda drove the band through an aggressive minor-key section before toggling into a bright early-evening major peak. This style of “All I Need” is a familiar path we’ve seen before (see 3/12/22), but never fails to result in a high level of enjoyment by the crowd and band alike. Skirting the boundary of major and minor for a bit, the final build of the “AIN” jam took a propulsive path not unlike the ending to “Madhuvan” as tension built to a huge peak.

Photo by Alive Coverage

The first set concluded next with “Indian River,” complete with a more adventurous “Welcome to Delta” jam than usual. Hinting at some deeper exploration with a synth drone briefly, Mitarotonda’s soloing brought them back to “Delta” proper for an excellent high-energy finish.

“Drive” has had a hell of a 2024 so far, and last night’s version to open the second set was no exception. Departing out from the main guitar solo into the jam rather than finishing the song first, Mitarotonda led the way with some dissonant chords as Anspach unleashed a wall of sound behind him on his own guitar. A repeating pattern developed with Anspach’s textures, making heavy use of wah and delay as the band ventured further into the dark dual-guitar space.

Ellis moved the band into a faster-paced zone, Anspach still largely stirring up massive clouds of noise underneath Mitarotonda’s riffs as Weekz peppered in sustained bends on the upper register of his bass.

Pivoting just before the 14^th minute into a more percussive zone, Anspach switched to choppy rhythm work more akin to the “Drive” second jam for a couple of minutes before the band found a more upbeat progression to explore. Grabbing a firm hold on this mode, Mitarotonda shredded to a phenomenal peak, utilizing all the previous momentum of the jam and slamming down from the apex right into “Hollywood Nights.”

Photo by Adam Berta

As much as this song pops up (seemingly most of the time when I’m in attendance), I don’t think I will get tired of the energy it brings to every set, encouraging exuberant singalongs from the audience.

A surprise call of “Into the Myst” was next, rather than the expected “Creatures” – bliss MVP for the year adding another strong entry into its record. Beginning in a light and spacey mode that is typical for 2024 versions of the song, Anspach sprinkled bright tones of OB-6 synth over Ellis’ quiet beat as the band worked patience for a few minutes. Rather than make the bliss pivot early on, Anspach added arpeggiator to the jam, which kept it in a dancier mode for a while – though Ellis’ drumming was anything but your standard beat. The drummer was seemingly everywhere on his kit yet left more than enough space for the airy music to keep going.

Anspach slowly faded out the arpeggiator as Mitarotonda signalled the turn to major-key playing, hitting a gorgeous peak as we were sadly left with another unfinished “Myst.” While most of them have followed a similar blissed-out jam this year, I will gladly take that as the new normal for versions of this song.

“Spirit of the Dark Horse” was a perfect call for this point in the set with the sun now fully set, giving lighting designer Andrew Goedde the opportunity to paint the crowd with a variety of patterns and colours from his sprawling rig. Unfortunately, the band decided to cut the planned “Dragonfly” in favour of closing the second set with “Slow Ready” (really hoping the Ted Tapes cut makes an appearance tonight or this weekend), which had some new sounds from Peter in usage of Vintage Vibe and piano instead of straight synthesizer.

An energetic romp through “Animal” in the encore slot closed out Tuesday night in Portland on a high note, priming for an amazing second show tonight. Those at home can catch the show live on nugs, free for subscribers – tune in at 6:30 ET.