Show Review - Goose 6/6/25 Greenwood Village, CO
Whoas, Sanskrit, Disco, and EVIL GOOSE
Never miss a Colorado Goose show…or so the saying goes.
Goose kicked off their second annual early June run at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre just outside of Denver with one of the best shows of 2025 so far, blending a first set with throwback song arrangements and pockets of jamming with a second frame that did not let up from beginning to end.
The night kicked off with the fourth “Drive” opener this year, auspiciously repeating a song from last year’s Fiddler’s run right off the bat – a move the band usually avoids, especially given the 30-minute rendition played on 6/8/24. Anspach and Mitarotonda linked up early on some great guitar interplay in the typical post-solo jam, bassist Trevor Weekz poking forward with some melodic work alongside the leads. The reason for the repeat was then revealed – the highly-anticipated return of the “whoa” section that the band had excised from “Drive” in early 2022.
With new lyrics (“can’t you see that we’re all cut from the same cloth”), drummer Cotter Ellis’ first time playing this composed section felt fresh and new, the three-year gap energizing the band as they embarked on the airy major-key jam. It felt like a throwback to the many versions of “Drive” in 2020 and 2021, the band building around a sunny major-key motif for the duration.
Two-guitar Goose was in full effect, Anspach leaning hard into the textural role he so excels at. Mitarotonda weaved melodies with Weekz firing right along with him, the bassist displaying his summer 2025 tendency toward leadership in jams, pushing the lead guitarist to new heights.
One beautiful and expressive peak later, the band wrapped up the composed ending to “Drive” just short of the 20-minute mark before ripping into a soaring “How It Ends” for its third appearance of the tour. Mitarotonda seems especially fond of this song, and the way he continues to build the guitar solo in each rendition is remarkable – so much emotion and purpose behind every lick as the band built from quiet to a big, cathartic explosion of energy.
A surprise (and random) debut of CCR’s “Suzie Q” choogled into the next slot before a perfectly-placed sunset “Turbulence & The Night Rays” kept the flow going nicely with another amazing Mitarotonda-led peak.
“Indian River” grooved in next, coming off the bench after a lengthy 40 shows with a return to its original arrangement – complete with Mitarotonda’s Sanskrit verse in its first performance since 6/19/21, or 298 shows!
We were treated to an excellent Weekz bass solo and some slick organ riffing from Anspach in the all-too-brief “IR” jam, the band eschewing the “Welcome to Delta” section in favour of a fresher minor-key space – a trend I hope continues with future versions of the song.
Executing a flawless segue, Goose tore into a set-closing “Animal,” building an extended peak with intention over the course of 15 minutes to get the crowd riled up with anticipation for the massive forthcoming second set.
Decisively opening with “Tumble,” the quartet dug in immediately on a vicious funk motif with the duelling guitars at the helm. Weekz engaged in some loud riffs to buoy the improv as Mitarotonda hung on his wah pedal. Clicking on a groovy ascending progression, the pure danceability of the jam only got higher as Anspach hopped on his own wah pedal to join Mitarotonda for duelling grimy licks.
Taking things down a little bit, Mitarotonda continued to lean into the funk riffing as Anspach introduced a subtle synth drone. Beginning to build the intensity back up with everyone firmly locking in around Weekz’ ascending bass en route to a massive peak. Mitarotonda’s gritty, heavy tone perfectly suited the space the band was ripping through, and his playing combined with Anspach’s for some prime two-guitar Goose action once again.
Hitting the apex of the peak, Weekz and Mitarotonda pushed through into a major modulation as Anspach infused the jam with a quick burst of siren synth before sticking to guitar and developing the next section. Ellis kept up the momentum of the earlier funk jam as heavy guitar textures courtesy of Anspach thickly coloured the space. Mitarotonda decisively built around some upbeat melodies, his soaring tone pushing overtop the dense sounds laid down by Anspach.
Weekz continued to stick out as well, his melodic contributions beautifully bolstering the guitar leads. As Mitarotonda’s initial peak faded away, Ellis continued to push the pace as Anspach laid down a blissy progression for a moment before the bottom dropped out of the jam and descended into a couple minutes of contemplative haze, eventually resolving into a surprise mid-set “Factory Fiction,” the song’s first such placement outside a set-closing or encore slot since December 2022.
Giving itself the opportunity to stretch out improvisationally because of this slot, the band embarked on almost five minutes of deep-space exploration, beginning in a totally deconstructed zone with occasional pounding toms or cymbal washes from Ellis. Anspach went deep into his Nord Stage’s toolkit of effects, utilizing wild delays and effects on his piano for an amazing psychedelic effect.
Ellis brought the jam more back to earth with a pulsating-yet-loose beat on the hi-hat as things continued to brood for a spell before Mitarotonda perfectly slid into the opening to “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.).” One of Goose’s best covers and always welcome as a landing pad mid-second set, the first-time sandwich for “Factory Fiction” would be returned to later in massive fashion.
As the Jim James cover exploded through its finish, the band lit into “Echo of a Rose” next, quickly used as a launchpad for a segue into the Ellis-front “Psycho Killer.” While I was initially a little bit wary of a possible “vibes” segment of the set with an emphasis on segues rather than improv, Goose quickly proved me wrong (my favourite occurrence) as the Talking Heads cover burst forth into a powerhouse electronic-inspired jam. Anspach went full mad scientist on his relatively new sampler setup, unleashing what sounded like e-drums at the outset and then diving deep into different kinds of arpeggiators, tweaking filters and more as the rest of the band plowed through peak after peak in the raging dance groove.
Mitarotonda hung onto his wah pedal as he has been wont to do this summer, not utilizing it in the traditional sweeping manner but using it as a kind of filter as he hung out at different points around the midpoint of the sound.
Also of note during this jam was Andrew Goedde’s INSANE light rig, getting the full power of the “A” setup in a fully dark outdoor setting for the first time this tour. It’s insane.
Descending from the peak, the band mellowed out and modulated back into the native key of the “Factory Fiction” jam, re-introducing the drone and starting basically from scratch where the earlier space-haze segment had left off. Weekz got super melodic as Ellis and Mitarotonda coalesced around a minor-key zone, seeming to be heading in the direction of a fiery Type I peak and conclusion to the set.
Not to be satisfied with the standard or expected, Mitarotonda led into a three-chord motif and let loose on leads, playing in a zone that almost sounded like The Allman Brothers’ “Dreams” at times. While slightly different that normal, I kept waiting for Ellis to kick into the double-time beat that signals the conclusion of “Factory,” but the band once again bucked the expectations and continued to jam.
As the energy got higher, Weekz aggressively emphasized the low root notes, anchoring things perfectly as Mitarotonda blazed overtop with serious fretboard fireworks.
Right as the expected re-entry to the song’s ending was expected, Ellis sped up and Mitarotonda led things into a tense space. Anspach’s uneasy piano and the choppy rhythm guitar informed a change into a Westville “Rockdale”-style jam, immediately hitting into a start/stop motif led by Anspach and Weekz.
Mitarotonda aggressively returned to wah and peppered rapid-fire runs overtop of the rest of the band, darting in to link up with them and then moving away into his own territory repeatedly.
Splintering from there, Ellis played with the time signature as the three melodic instruments circled each other in a dissonant space, Weekz bubbling up with some envelope-filtered tones to increase the wild sounds. Mitarotonda went into repeated arpeggios to heap more tension on top as Ellis was right there with him, tapping the bell of his ride cymbal steadily as the intensity rose.
Moving into a new dissonant section, the band once again hit a stop/start motif where they linked up on a ten-beat ascending riff for a spell before continuing to move from dark and weird to MORE dark and weird.
Anspach turned some heavy fuzz on his clavinet and began to infuse the space with dissonant chords, hitting away at the keyboard as Mitarotonda and Ellis went absolutely nuts in the forefront. Led by Weekz, Ellis shifted the beat into a pounding tom-heavy space before Mitarotonda and Anspach followed suit into a choppy and scratchy zone of their own.
Jagged edges of delayed guitar screamed out over the crowd as Ellis hit harder and harder, bringing the jam to a rolling boil as Mitarotonda built things with some leads and the band crashed into “Factory Fiction” – the slightly flubbed re-entry forgiven immediately as the crowd whooped for the high-energy and intense set closer.
Nearly 20 minutes of “Arcadia” in the encore (its first performance in Denver since the legendary Mission Ballroom version on 11/22/21) saw one of its most improvisational versions in years, the band going with a “kitchen sink” approach that saw them move through several distinct sections.
Drippy funk saw a Mitarotonda-and-Weekz led modulation into a JGB groove incredibly similar to “Get Out Of My Life Woman.” Anspach’s minimalist Roland JUNO synth chords switched to piano as Mitarotonda added more wah rhythm riffs into the mix.
Building from there, the guitarist led the rest of the band through an extended anthemic peak zone that had hands raised high in the air and smiles across faces before smashing hard into the “Arcadia” ending – complete with one last double-time shift from Ellis that led to a final burst of tension-building to send the crowd off happy.
So, yeah. Colorado Goose is not to be missed.
The band returns to Fiddler’s tonight for their second of two shows, and it’s nearly impossible to predict what they’re going to play based on the sheer volume of songs on the table. Will they go with the classics that were absence from last year like “Pancakes” and “Empress” or will they emphasize the new material like “Iguana Song,” “Your Direction,” and “Big Modern!”?
One thing is for sure – it’s going to be an amazing show.
Tune in tonight and all tour long to livestreams included with a nugs All Access subscription.