Goose celebrated their 10th anniversary as a band last night at the historic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The band marked the occasion with a banger-filled setlist and a massive second-set anchoring “Dripfield” jam.
What began at Jimmy’s Seaside Tavern on September 27, 2014 – featuring guitarist Rick Mitarotonda, bassist Trevor Weekz, and former members Ben Teeter and Isaac Slutsky – has been a decade of growth both musically and as a band, through lineup changes and venue upgrades to get to the historic Greek in the Hollywood hills.
While I didn’t attend the show played there in 2022, I have to imagine last night’s had a significantly larger audience – while not sold out, it certainly didn’t look empty – and one that was receptive to every song of the show whether it was brand new or a classic.
The band took the stage with their typical run of “opener” tunes – concisely played songs to get the crowd going. It was clear when “Dr. Darkness” led into “Hot Love & The Lazy Poet” that the expected rotation of songs would not be in play as the band selected the songs they wanted to play for the Big 10.
“Turned Clouds” capped the first half of the set ahead of a jump into “Echo of a Rose,” a surprise given they played it at the last performance at the Greek in 2022.
Mitarotonda drenched his tone in reverb as the jam began, nicely soloing over Peter Anspach’s bright piano. The jam began to pick up steam thanks to drummer Cotter Ellis, the band locking in together on a driving motif. The guitarist infused some subtle digital sauce into the jam as things got into a darker tone, taking on a vibe akin to “Sinnerman” for a spell before the band modulated up into a hose-y major key. Weekz got melodic as they hit a solid peak, getting the energy amped WAY up after the relatively tame opening to the show.
Coming down off the peak, the quintet wasted no time before diving into uncharted waters, mapping out a path into a moody and exploratory zone with percussive marimba piano work from Anspach. Mitarotonda went full digital in this section, the computerized envelope filter sound informing a slow-down as it seemed as though they were poised for some serious evil Goose improv.
Instead of getting aggressive, the band laid out and left tons of room in the jam, Anspach coming in with repeated Clavinet riffs whose delays spiraled out into the night air. Unfortunately, this space was not to last as Mitarotonda led the band into the next song – but fortunately, it was the long-awaited return of Ilsey Juber’s “No California,” getting its second Goose performance after a strong debut in June.
Mitarotonda tore through the solo with gusto, the band’s clear enjoyment during the song hopefully an indication that it will be entering a more regular rotation.
September debut “Big Modern!” was up next and just like every performance of the song so far, it crushed. Whether people in the crowd were familiar or not, it’s hard to deny the catchy hooks and earworms, plus the heavy metal-ish breakdown is just sick.
The jam itself took off decisively into a dark-tinged space relatively quickly, Mitarotonda playing quick stabs of rhythm guitar offset by multi-instrumentalist Jeff Arevalo’s own chords, building together with the rest of the band on a gradual increase in energy and intensity toward a vicious minor-key peak.
From there, Goose pivoted to a gorgeous major-key space, Mitarotonda locking in on a repeated descending progression as Ellis hammered away at his toms, not wasting a second of jamming time as the band eventually found their way smoothly to the ascending composed ending of the song.
Long overdue and perfectly placed as the cool-down/set closer, “Give it Time” sent us into the break with hands raised, voices singing, and vibes sky-high. Bangers ONLY mode was in full effect.
Returning from the break, the distinctive synth-arpeggiator intro to “Eminence Front” rang out across the Greek as Goose crushed their third rendition of the The Who cover this year.
A surprise (but very welcome) call of “Dripfield” to be the meat of the second set informed total liftoff, as this song always does when it has the room to breathe instead of being a quick closer before curfew.
As the jam kicked off, Anspach set up a synth drone and made a switch to piano as Mitarotonda worked some heavier riffing in. Smoothly transitioning into a brighter space, a lovely progression developed with Ellis matching Anspach’s piano hits with his cymbals, Mitarotonda and Weekz darting around each other with busy riffing as they acted as twin leads to the improv.
Screaming through an excellent peak, the real magic began to take shape as the band landed in a quiet soundscape motif, Weekz getting underwater tones and melodic runs as Anspach floated dreamy OB-6 synthesizer tones across the audience.
Threatening to drift off into space and end at any moment, this breathtaking quiet part had the normally chatty California crowd in pure rapture, holding the attention with volume-swell clouds of guitar and very clean and pure synth leads from Anspach. This is the kind of jam that this September tour has been building to – each member listening and filling in one piece of the whole musical organism, nobody in a hurry to build to a peak or go anywhere.
Luxuriating in the patience and commitment to quieter dynamics, Mitarotonda and Anspach danced an intricate pattern of interplay, building slowly and with intention behind every note to a soaring and beautiful apex to the jam, overflowing with pure joy and emotion. This is the kind of thing that sets Mitarotonda’s guitar playing apart from the pack – his ability to evoke beauty with phrase after phrase that he pulls from thin air is truly remarkable.
This is the kind of mature full-band jamming that the band has been developing so well across this whole tour – and it was a really special example of it in “Dripfield.” Every time you think they’ve explored everything there is to explore within a bliss zone, the band somehow finds a new and exciting vein.
An all-out dance party ensued next with the second “Yeti” of the tour to sandwich a “Pumped Up Kicks,” the familiar cover getting the crowd raging and singing along as Anspach destroyed some grimy rhythm guitar.
Gorgeous ballad “Arise” was chosen as the second set cooldown, coming off the shelf after 126 shows – last seen on March 10, 2023. This is one of Mitarotonda’s finest songs (in my opinion) and has been a longtime staple of acoustic offshoot Orebolo, so catching the exceedingly rare electric full-band versions is a treat.
It wouldn’t be a proper anniversary celebration without an “Arcadia,” and last night’s quick version to close the second set absolutely demolished the venue ahead of a quick “Hot Tea” encore snuck in before the 11 p.m. curfew.
Anspach took a moment to express his gratitude for the past decade of support for the band and noted he was looking forward to the next 10 – so are we, Peter! Thank you, Goose, for an incredible tour! Onward and upward!
Tour proper wraps up tonight, Saturday, September 28 in Stanford at the Frost Amphitheater. A livestream is available exclusively to nugs.net subscribers and the show kicks off at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Goose announced a special intimate benefit show at L.A.’s legendary club The Troubadour on October 1. More information about how to score tickets is forthcoming.
Set Two: Dr. Darkness, Hot Love & The Lazy Poet > Turned Clouds, Echo of a Rose[1] > No California, Big Modern!, Give it Time
Set One: Eminence Front > Dripfield[2] > Yeti -> Pumped Up Kicks -> Yeti, Arise > Arcadia
Encore: Hot Tea
Notes:
- [1] Fast version. Unfinished.
- [2] Unfinished.
- Arise was played for the first time since March 10, 2023 (126 shows).
