Goose is making it big time. Across the span of their career, the Wilton, CT, jam band went from playing smaller, intimate venues containing crowds within the hundreds to selling out two straight nights at the world-famous arena. At their MSG performance last year, the band held the record for the longest show at The Garden, going past curfew and playing a nearly four-hour show. And while these two shows weren't given the overtime privileges, the band came back to New York with an unbeatable force.
The band – composed of founding members guitarist Rick Mitarotonda and bassist Trevor Weekz – took the stage on June 20 with keyboardist Peter Anspach and their newest member, Cotter Ellis, on drums, to deliver an unforgettable two-set show.
Around 8 pm, the lights dim and the band opens with "MEDIA," a song from their new album, Big Modern!, that they premiered at last year's garden debut. Led by Ellis on vocals, this cut is, by all means, a "joke song," but what is a jam band without a little bit of cheese? The band takes the ridiculousness of the track and sends fans off with a ten-minute jam, as Cotter bangs on his set and screams, "My mind has been consumed by media!"
We then coast into the fan favorite, the blues-rock inspired "Hot Tea," this time featuring guest musician and frequent collaborator Stuart Bogie on saxophone. This is one of their peppiest tunes yet, with a wordless "la da da" refrain that had the whole audience shaking with delight. For twenty minutes, the band storms up a jam with progression reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's more upbeat hits. The first two songs definitely start the show on a highly energetic note.
Moving onward, "Rockdale" is a slower, more straightforward cruiser with a much silkier groove, coasting the audience along with ease. Rick Mitarotonda reminisces about "going down" to find something, a passion that he will "lay it all down" for. The smoother progression feels like the calm after the explosive opener, and as the band improvises on the groove for fifteen minutes before heading into the refrain again, everyone's heads are bobbing, and we're all feeling the breeziness of the band's presence. The audience joins in an uproarious group choir as Rick and Peter harmonize on the bridge, leaving things on an uncertain, yet hopeful note.
"I don't know if we'll ever go home again / The open road's got me thinking like a different man / Fifteen miles to the places we might go / So I'll lend my ears to the wind"
We then get to the jazz-inspired "Wysteria Lane" off one of their EPs. Bogie returns onstage to direct the band through a trip back down memory lane with some impassioned vocals and personal lyricism from Rick. This song, like many in their catalogue, has been performed for a few years in the live setting before eventually making it to the studio. The jazzier progression that the band encapsulates during this jam is another cool-down vibe that doesn't take things too subtly.
However, the band decides to pick up the pace and segue directly into a cover of Radiohead's "Burn the Witch," which they've been performing at multiple stops on their current tour. This rendition of the song is very true to the original recording, but done with a much heavier twist. Stuart Bogie is crooning his tenor sax while the band pushes all their force into the chorus, eventually progressing into a forceful jam inspired by the outro refrain. At a Goose show, you would expect the band to sneak in a cover or two, but they truly made this Radiohead cut sound like their own.
Set one ends with "Slow Ready," a smoother, laid-back version of one of their early hits, "So Ready," that is much more synth-based. Everyone in the audience is in a calmer state of mind, swaying their bodies together, before the accompanying jam begins. Five minutes into the song, the band goes more upbeat as Peter Anspach takes the arpeggiator and leads the band down a transcendental, electronic rock-inspired jam, much reminiscent of one of their main contemporaries, The Disco Biscuits.
But they don't just jam along a two-chord progression. Trevor Weekz has the capabilities to direct the band into different, uncharted areas within the same atmosphere, leaving fans engaged and along for the journey. As they finally return to the explosive main refrain, the arpeggiator slows down, and their tone softens, leaving the arena on a high note for an all-around visceral and dynamic first set.
As we move into the second set, the band is back in action with the fast-paced "Arrow" off their 2022 album, Dripfield. The song itself opens with a high-energy groove, spliced in between slow moments of self-reflection. Rick, during the opening moments, reminisces about the amped-up, nervous yet enthralled energy he feels from "Summer little lovin'" before leading the band into a gentler refrain, showing off the bands seemles mood switches between these two distinct areas.
But what really sells the song is the accompanying jam. If going to see a Goose concert is compared to a Sunday worship service, the "Arrow" jam is the praise break of the entire show. The band riffs and explores uncharted territory vibrantly, and none of it feels like it drags on for too long. All the slightly nervous energy Rick expresses seems washed away by their unbeatable and unpredictable atmosphere. It's the release in the show that the whole audience craves, and boy, do they ever deliver.
We then coast down into more subtle territory with another cover, this time a rendition of "Fish in the Sea" by Fat Freddy's Drop featuring Bogie on sax for the final time. It's one of the more straightforward cuts the band performs and gets the audience back to the ground after that burst of charismatic energy.
And then, for the rest of the show, we get to hear cuts off the band's latest album, starting with the title track, "Big Modern!" which opens the project up. This song has been in their rotation for years since its studio rendition. But every time they perform this song, the audience is prepared to "look alive" as Rick insinuates. The upbeat and fashionable atmosphere, reminiscent of the 80s pop rock era, is a vehicle for expressing the song's message about presenting yourself with a facade. The lyrics almost present a situation that's too good to be true, as if you have it all and you're still left empty.
"Look Alive!
Looks so еasy
Look it up, Let's see what we can do
One by Onе
Everything you wanted
Face to Face!
Forever
With a view"
The second set ends with the last few tracks from the album. "Good Times // End Times" continues on the themes of uncertainty and loneliness expressed throughout their latest project, this time with a more lyrically materialistic angle. It follows a similar groove to the previous track, but with a darker edge surrounding it. Rick is mournful about the "nocturne" pulling you in towards the edge and ends the refrain singing in binary.
But the accompanying "(nocturne)" jam is where things really take off. The energy ramps up, and the band swells into this fast-paced, darker progression, this time with a less improvisatory angle. However, the way they construct this jam leaves the audience enthralled and on the edge of their seats, as all four members lead the arena down bleak corridors with their inpenetrable atmosphere.
The band slows down again before repeating the same hook from the previous track, and concludes their set with the album's closer, "((postplace))," which is, by all means, the come back to earth moment of the show. The slower, subtle progression feels like a much-needed breather from the chaotic jam that came beforehand and a cohesive note to end the album on.
But just when you think they're done playing, the band improvises and ramps up the energy once more, before exploding back into the "Big Modern!" hook, ending the set and leaving the whole arena in uproar.
The encore of the show, "SALT," is a fast-paced rocker also featured on their new album that brings the volatile, extreme energy back with an impenetrable force. This is a track the band premiered back in April 2024, at Cotter's first gig with the band, and the evolution of the track has only gotten more cohesive and lively with time. They improvise on their pop-rock direction for a good ten minutes, leaving the performance on a high note.
If this performance proves anything, it's that Goose is a project that keeps evolving in unexpected directions. People say that they're a jam band that attempts to break the jam band mold. There have been Reddit threads naming them "the world's first pop jam band." If you're so quick to compare their sound to Phish, or moe., or Grateful Dead, you'd be sorely mistaken on what makes their sound stand out from the rest. They know how to write lyrics that are personal and emotionally moving, but simultaneously, they are prodigies at composition and instrumental camaraderie. In the past few years, the band has amassed a cult following like no other, and selling out The Garden for two nights in a short span is a rare yet inspiring feat that most ground-up groups can only dream of.
Set I
*MEDIA >
*Hot Tea
Rockdale
*Wysteria Lane >
*Burn the Witch (Radiohead)
Slow Ready
Set II
Arrow >
*Fish in the Sea (Fat Freddy’s Drop)
Big Modern! >
Good Times // End Times > {first time played}
(nocturne) {first time played} >
((tpostplace)) {first time played} >
Big Modern! (Reprise)
Encore
SALT
*featuring Stuart Bogie
A side note about what happened during set-break.
Before the band was supposed to go back onstage around 10 pm, tragedy struck. The NYPD reports that a concertgoer fell from the 300 section down to the 100 area, delaying the set break by nearly an hour. There were attendees and medical personnel who carried his body onto the stretcher before closing off the section with caution tape. The attendee was unconscious when the medics found him and was later pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. He was 51-years old.
Shortly after the show, the band took to social media to release an official statement.
We are deeply saddened and heartbroken to learn of the tragic event that occurred at tonight’s show. We extend our deepest sympathy to everyone affected.
Thank you to the emergency personnel and venue staff who stepped in with care and support.
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