Show Review - Goose 9/6/24 Saratoga Springs, NY

Shed Goose

Goose September tour continued last night with the first of two shows at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, marking the band’s second appearance at the upstate New York amphitheater. After three nights in Boston that went light on extended improv, it was as if a different band took the stage at SPAC – full of confidence and willing to delve into deep jamming at multiple moments.

The show kicked off with “Elizabeth,” multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach fronting the band on an upbeat groove to start. Reaching the Type 1.5 space that is so common in this song, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda led the band through several strong blissy peaks and got the shed crowd all riled up to set the tone for the show.

Picking up next with the second “Atlas” of 2024, Mitarotonda utilized some wah-infused funk vamping in the jam, sitting in the thumping pocket created by drummer Cotter Ellis and bassist Trevor Weekz. The guitarist even took a page out of the Khruangbin book here, stepping back from his pedalboard while leaving the wah engaged for some cool and unique tones. Weekz stepped up in the laid-back jam with some excellent fills while Anspach’s busy piano kept the space coloured until Mitarotonda returned to lead work and drove to an excellent peak.

A great rendition of “Turned Clouds” led into “Borne,” getting the energy up once again with a glorious singalong. Mitarotonda’s soaring solo seemed to stretch on for an age, the audience’s hands in the air for one of Goose’s most meaningful songs.

Emerging into the funky “2001”-esque jam, Anspach opted to lay down OB-6 drone in lieu of his usual Vintage Vibe work early on, soon switching to Moog Muse for more colour and a new layer. Some tones in this spot were reminiscent of his summer 2022 use of the Moog Matriarch, twisting and turning tones that felt almost 3-dimensional in their sound.

Finding themselves in a familiar three-chord jam, the quintet rode the groove for several minutes, in no hurry and not pushing for a high-energy peak – eventually sliding perfectly into the first “Rosa Lee McFall” since June 27, 2023 (76 shows).

The Monroe Brothers kept the set going nicely before a blazing (and faster-than-normal) “Bob Don” let Mitarotonda let loose some flamethrower guitar work. Sadly Without, we moved into the final song of the set – an epic “Pancakes.”

With a layered and incredible bliss jam not unlike the Mann “Tumble” from June, this immediately became the point where it felt like Goose locked in together on a really strong jam for the first time since last Sunday in Holmdel.

Beginning in the song proper, Anspach suggested a repeating riff early on that was quickly latched onto by Weekz. The keyboardist switched to percussive marimba and worked from there, simmering on top of Ellis’ insistent drumbeat as Mitarotonda gradually began to move from rhythm to lead. Smoothly modulating into a major key, the band locked in as one and began the ramp up to a pure joy motif.

Mitarotonda played his heart out here as Ellis switched to a more driving beat, the band meshing together on the hypnotically repeating jam as they all built to an absolute glorious peak, smiles abounding on every face throughout the venue as the set ended with a massive roar from the crowd.

Jams like the SPAC “Pancakes” are lightning in a bottle – the moment has to be right for the band to click on such a level and I’m grateful to have been in attendance for last night’s breakthrough.

A quick 20-minute setbreak flew by (shoutout clock management!) before the band returned to open the set with “Arrow.” After years of being a maligned song for me due to its tendency to hit a long runtime without digging too far improvisationally, last night’s quickly demonstrated that it would be following in the footsteps of its predecessor from the Fox in June and would be heading for evil territory.

Anspach began the jam with some bouncy Vintage Vibe work, quickly dropping out and pivoting to OB-6 as Weekz stepped up with some aggressive bass playing. This was an Ellis MVP jam from the jump, the drummer just pushing the tempo with a busy-yet-open beat as Anspach began to pepper in subtle blasts of synth – an effect we heard in Boston’s “Thatch.”

Just after the 14-minute mark, Mitarotonda began to lead the band into darker territory with some purposeful melodies, Weekz following him closely as Anspach stuck to a textural role, leaving tons of sonic space open for Ellis to also adopt a leadership role.

Anspach toyed with the filter on his synth as the evil rose further, lighting director Andrew Goedde painting the band from behind with dark patterns. The rhythm section pushed forward more, Weekz breaking from the straight groove to add in some off-kilter fills.

Mitarotonda’s purposeful soloing utilized a grimy tone, hitting the finish of the first dark motif before cooling off and pivoting into a new and more vicious space. Ellis hammered a syncopated beat on the ride cymbal as the band stayed in perfect lockstep, the drummer mirroring hits to Mitarotonda’s soloing as the guitarist headed in a realm akin to the 1/30/22 “Wysteria.”

Immensely powerful jamming continued from here, boiling over into a vortex of evil sounds that would quickly cement itself in my mind as one of the best jams of the year – and that’s even before the on-a-dime pivot to major key, thanks to Mitarotonda’s rising chords. Ellis refused to let a single drop of momentum get lost as he kept his foot firmly to the floor as Goose soared forth into a beautiful peak that seemed as though they were poised to drop into “Hollywood Nights” at any moment.

The biggest takeaway from this jam is how much of an influence Ellis’ nonstop energy has on Goose these days - the power given by his unrelenting rhythm and the space he creates for the rest of the band to improvise within is nothing short of astounding.

Wrapping up the 27-minute set opener to thunderous cheers, the band took a breather with “Everything Must Go” – but just the song part. The second song of the set dove right back into extended jamming, beginning in its trademark primal beat, Anspach laying on thick chords of piano underneath Mitarotonda’s soloing and Ellis and percussionist Jeff Arevalo’s aggressive drum work.

After a couple minutes in Type I play, the jam cooled off and began to drift into a more minimalist zone, gradually building into a rocking space. Moving from synth to punchy electric piano, Anspach led the jam initially before Mitarotonda and Ellis took the reins en route to the peak.

Hitting a high-octane peak, the band then moved into a propulsive and funkier space with some brief clav forays from Anspach. Once again refusing to let any momentum abate, they blasted through the ending of “EMG” in a blaze of happiness and an outpouring of positive energy that was more than reciprocated by the audience.

Ellis’ first performance of “Jeff Engborg” (and Goose’s first in just over 50 shows) came next and brought the Big Clav Energy, an all-out dance party for ten minutes. This has always been a criminally underplayed song and all those in attendance absolutely got down for the funk, whether they were familiar with the song or not.

While the “Engborg” was a real treat to see, the biggest surprise and excitement of the night came with “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis,” getting its first Goose outing since October 3, 2020 – a gap of 254 shows! While it’s been a staple of Orebolo setlists over the past few years, it’s been a big chase of mine to see with Goose and it absolutely did not disappoint as a perfect cool-down for the second set.

A fitting “Arcadia” closer pulled a rabbit from a hat with a solid couple of minutes of transcendent bliss seemingly out of nowhere before the band blew up the venue with a volcanic ending. This quintessential Goose song quite literally never disappoints.

Returning for the encore with only five minutes until curfew, the band opted for “Hot Love & The Lazy Poet,” an excellent song for this slot that also gave a nod to the old Vasudo days. Perfectly placed and ended the show on a high note.

Any worries I had about the absence big jams coming out of the Boston run were more than assuaged last night as Goose treated fans to a barnburner (shed-burner?) of a show to kick off the weekend. We return to SPAC tonight for the end of the Northeast leg of tour and what is sure to be another fantastic show – tune in from home via the nugs subscriber-exclusive livestream.