Show Review - Goose 7/2/26 Holmdel, NJ
When I Burn Down
Goose headed down to New Jersey last night for their penultimate stop of the first leg of summer tour, playing a great high-energy show that broke through the insane heat wave in effect through the Northeast. With temperatures feeling over 40 degrees Celsius (110 for those of you using Fahrenheit), the crowd didn’t file into the big shed as early as normal, and the band waited until the sun was a bit closer to the horizon before taking the stage.
Opening with “Rockdale,” the quartet quickly demonstrated that first-set jamming was very much on the table by taking it for an efficient 15-minute ride. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach was out front early, continuing his hot streak of inventive playing by egging on guitarist Rick Mitarotonda’s leads assertively. Drummer Cotter Ellis’ active play accentuated how even a Type I space sounds dynamic and fresh in their late-tour form.
Mitarotonda hammered a minor chord to egg on a tempo increase, beginning to depart “Rockdale” proper for more anthemic territory. A clean and rocking motif developed with shades of “Loose Ends” within, cooling in intensity as the band began a build.
Smoothly transitioning into a favourite melodic theme (see 3/10/22 “Rockdale,” 9/7/24 “Drive,” 6/27/25 “Rockdale,” and more), Mitarotonda’s thick tone began to soar, bassist Trevor Weekz anchoring beautifully with creative play of his own. Nicely peaking here, the band landed back in “Rockdale” to complete the opener as Mitarotonda decisively led the band through a nice conclusion.
“Hot Love & The Lazy Poet” was tapped next and embarked right back into an improvisational space, Mitarotonda, Anspach, and Weekz engaging in some spellbinding interplay. It’s a testament to how good this band sounds right now that even the relatively standard Type I jams are chock full of inspiration and freshness.
A somewhat premature (but smooth) segue into “Atlas Dogs” saw us get some rare early-show Goontz at Ellis’ urging. Mitarotonda let loose some thick, dark chords to set things up as the drums pivoted into a dance beat, Anspach peppered the space with percussive piano and stayed away from his usual sequencer looping. A different take on the Goontz without so many layers, the band tore through a concise peak before landing nicely in “A Western Sun.”
More conversational interplay emerged, using dynamics extremely well as the band quieted briefly to near silence. Upping the intensity into the song’s typical rocking motif, the band hung out there before moving sideways into a tense, minor-key zone. Anspach hit some off-kilter riffs in time with Ellis in a cool way to keep that vibe going before Mitarotonda pushed them back into brighter territory. Cooling back off into contemplative major-key conversation, Anspach led a nice transition to “Madalena.”
Returning right to that clean, rocking space, Mitarotonda confidently led the band on a melodic journey, gradually increasing the tempo and intensity in lockstep with Ellis. Soaring into a joyful peak, Mitarotonda went in on rapid-fire runs to lead the other musicians through what felt like the first completed improvisational idea through the set. The amphitheatre roared in excitement at the fiery conclusion, leading into our first cover of the night in Arcade Fire’s anthemic “Wake Up.”
Another short-gap pick in “Pancakes” was chosen to close out the first set, embarking in the most adventurous jamming of the night so far. Ellis started things off at a good clip, Mitarotonda augmenting his tone with some light digital sauce as the airy space developed. Anspach peppered in some aggressive piano runs, darting around the insistent guitar as another peak began to take shape.
Modulating into a minor-key space that would eventually tee up the conclusion of “Hot Love,” Goose waited to hit that and instead got into our first dark improv of the night. Weekz pushed forward with some melodic phrasing as Mitarotonda dove further into computerized sounds, shooting across the sparse beat laid down by Ellis. Patiently working together, guitar and keys melded well while rising like a cresting ocean wave. The intensity grew as Ellis’ playing got busier and busier, though he never lost his amazing hold on the groove.
Pounding into a blazing and dark peak mode, Mitarotonda’s nonstop runs seemed to grow closer to a return to “Pancakes” for a bit, but instead smoothly finished the hanging “Hot Love,” marking the conclusion of the set and 75-minute song sandwich.
Returning from the break with “Hot Tea,” it was time for party mode as the band explored every inch of the song proper. Deviating from the norm a couple of times, Goose attempted some out-of-the-box exploration though none of the ideas quite caught on. Sticking within the funk groove, the band headed through some low-key atmospheric play for a bit in the middle, but eventually returned for a hot peak to close it out – with some chord patterns very reminiscent of “Walk Away” or “The Shape I’m In.”
“Red Bird” was tapped as the centrepiece jam of the second set and followed a trend of several recent versions (Amsterdam excepted) – pure bliss. Beginning in a propulsive funk groove, Anspach dominated early on with some reverb-heavy clav. As Mitarotonda began a rise into anthemic major-key territory, Anspach came right alongside with insistent clav work that complemented the guitar beautifully.
Continuing the theme from there, the band crafted a soaring bliss peak packed with emotion, eliciting an awesome reaction from the crowd at the sheer power. On the other side, we seemed poised for liftoff in a crunchy rock zone as things got heavy, but that was quickly abandoned for “Hungersite.”
Another puzzling choice given its recent play at Merriweather, the band delivered a classic take on the song as Ellis played his ass off. Blistering play and more heavy rocking vibes kept the energy high and fed off the crowd before launching into a set-closing “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).”
A favourite of the band in a slot like this, the audience was once again loving the high-energy play as the not-quite-Goontz jam took off, Anspach at the lead on some exemplary synth work.
“Arcadia” was played on short rest once again for the encore, unfortunately not with the same depth it got last weekend though still a nice excursion into bliss land. Goose sent the Holmdel crowd home sweaty, happy, and amped for what’s to come this weekend at SPAC.
Watch live tonight for The Disco Biscuits’ opening set before Goose takes the legendary Saratoga stage for their tour-closing run, exclusively with a nugs subscription.
