Show Review - TABoose 11/9/22 Portland, ME

Last night, Trey Anastasio Band and Goose opened their eight-date fall tour in Portland, Maine. The four-hour concert featured impressive displays from both bands as well as some truly phenomenal sit-ins – a performance that bodes incredibly well for the rest of the tour.

We got seats inside the Cross Insurance Arena Peter side after stopping by the Conscious Alliance and GrooveSafe tables on the concourse - both amazing organizations with representatives on this tour that you should always visit and support!

Goose took the stage just slightly later than the “7:30 sharp” they claimed on social media, but fans of the band are well-acquanited with Goose’s tendency to start late.

Opening with “Turbulence & The Night Rays”, the quintet got the crowd grooving with some precisely executed peaks. The original version of “Atlas Dogs” came up next, amping the crowd even further despite its lack of a jam.

The first extended improv of the night came in the ensuing “Time to Flee”, which built on some incredible tension, displaying Goose’s improvisational prowess to those seeing them for the first time.

“Electric Avenue” kept everybody grooving before “Tumble” got really deep into its 15-minute jam. The dual-guitar attack of Rick and Peter delved into some darker “churn” themes not seen since the summer – hopefully this is an indication that Goose will be returning to its more evil explorations after a relatively light-hearted fall tour.

Taking a breather with “A Western Sun”, Peter then introduced Trey as the Phish guitarist walked on stage and followed Rick into the opening notes of “All I Need”.

As someone who has listened to the Radio City sit-in set probably hundreds of times and also being a lifelong fanatical Phish fan, getting to see Rick and Trey trade licks like old friends was an absolutely surreal experience.

While the Radio City sit-in felt like Trey was holding back a little bit and testing the waters with Goose, it was evident last night in Portland that he had been practicing Goose’s material and was ready to go no-holds-barred in jams.

The jam began with Trey ripping a beautiful melodic solo as Rick harmonized perfectly at times with an almost Allman Brothers-like effect. Not to be stuck in a Type I groove, Trey led the band with his unmistakable assertiveness into a deconstructed section that soon built back up to another incredible peak.

Dropping into a funky groove next, Peter viciously tore into the clav as Trey traded crunchy wah licks with him for a few minutes. This incredible section of the jam wasn’t the last, however, as Trevor’s incredible bass fills drove the band darker, taking on an evil-tinged vibe as Rick and Trey continued to shred minor-key riffs.

Spuds and Jeff aggressively drove the jam through this section before a slightly rocky drop back into the final chorus and conclusion.

Up next came “Pancakes” – ten minutes of Rick and Trey just harmonizing and trading licks beautifully to peak after peak like they have been playing together forever.

Opening TAB’s set was a rocking “Set Your Soul Free”, the horn section immediately dialing in and contributing their incredible backing vocals to the Trey tune. The TAB set continued in fine fashion with “Love Is What We Are” and “Mozambique” before the octet fired up “The Moma Dance”.

I have always been a huge fan of TAB’s take on “Moma”, and getting to hear Russ and Dezron lock in on that groove live for the first time was an absolute treat – there’s some serious stank in that bass!

“Alive Again” had some extended jamming before an energetic “Curlew’s Call” continued to showcase percussionist Cyro Baptista’s eccentric and wild array of tools in his rig.

“Magilla” continued the set before Trey absolutely ripped up “Everything’s Right”. “roll like a river”, from recent acoustic album Mercy, was a beautifully-placed breather song ahead of a raging “Sand”, again highlighting the rhythm section of Russ and Dezron. “Valentine” closed the TAB portion of the set before Trey brought Rick and Peter up on stage.

Settling into the familiar groove of “Wolfman’s Brother”, the Phish classic again featured some amazing guitar interplay with Rick and Trey, the former even taking the classic “telephone” lick in the second verse.

Peter settled into Ray’s keyboard rig with some groovy clav work during the song and later moved to organ while the TAB keyboardist held down some funky Wurlitzer. Wolfman’s built to a soaring peak thanks to the guitarists and emphatic horn stabs from Natalie, Jen, and James.

For the encore, Spuds and Jeff joined Cyro on percussion in addition to Rick and Peter as Dezron took a CRAZY envelope-filtered intro to slow “Llama”. Trey dialed up his synth filter effect for a grimy solo before giving Rick and the horns a spin. A lyrical change of “TABOOSE!”

Not to be left out, Trevor stepped up and joined Dezron on the bass stand for the ensuing “First Tube” – both bassists swaying back and forth in time with the groove, both sporting huge smiles (have we ever seen Trevor emote this much on stage??) as Rick and Trey once again drove to peak after peak.

With one night down and seven to go, expectations have already been exceeded across the board and I eagerly await the collaborations and jams to come throughout the rest of the tour. Whether you are watching from the couch or are in attendance, let’s all be so grateful and excited that these two amazing bands are touring together at such an incredibly high level.

Join us every day after show at 3pm ET to recap the previous night – we are so excited to be doing this tour live with our friends at HFPod and The Great Beyond! More info at osirispod.com/taboose.