Goose closed out another exhilarating summer tour last Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, CT. This was their fifth performance, and perhaps their best, at one of the finest places in the Northeast to see live music outdoors. The band was reeling from a raging show in front of their largest crowd to date the prior night in Forest Hills, and this only synergized with the hometown venue excitement. The evening included a pair of covers that had not seen air time in almost two years and started ninety minutes late because of a rain delay.
Set one took the fans on a journey early with a four-song set, which is more often seen in set two. This began with an eighteen-minute 'Butter Rum' that saw very developed jamming early. Drummer Cotter Ellis was firing on all cylinders as guitarist Rick Mitarotonda unfurled his fury on the guitar as though this was deep in set two. The mellower 'Mr. Action' followed and included a nice jam on the piano by multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach, while percussionist Jeff Arevalo crushed on the gong. The Constitution State quintet came together, and their jam intensity soared through the roof once again.
A sixteen-minute 'Elizabeth' proceeded, with Anspach on vocals and guitar. Bassist Trevor Weekz pulled both guitars together nicely as this jam simmered into a raging inferno. This reached a tasty peak courtesy of Rick 'Machine Gun' Mitarotonda and descended into the clav-fueled intro for 'Rockdale.' As the band moved away from the composed section, Weekz took the helm for a moment for a thumping sequence that included Arevalo and Ellis. The rest joined in and built on top of this funky, blues rock jam that veered in a few directions before landing back in 'Rockdale' to end the set.
Set two began after a short set break, as the band made haste with their extended 11 pm curfew. The intro for 'Pancakes' had a bit of a darker vibe, and this built into a face-melting prog rock progression, which was par for the course during this epic show. The band quickly returned to that dark, ethereal, synth-y vibe from the intro and started playing 'Milestone 2 (Skux Life)' by Moniker. This song was released on the 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' original motion picture soundtrack and was last played at Red Rocks on August 22, 2022. The jam felt quite evil and sinister as Goose skillfully rolled back into 'Pancakes.' Weekz really owned this melancholic series and wove skillfully with Mitarotonda as he clawed back towards the 'Pancakes' melody.
'Everything Must Go' came after the mind-numbing 'Pancakes' and continued on an odyssey of its own. It's hard to say if it was the end of the tour or the fact that the sky could burst at any time, but the band was very much on another planet during this roaring set. That cooled off for a hot minute during 'This Old Sea,' before ratcheting right back up during 'Empress of Organos.' It certainly looked like rain during the show, but the band single-handedly held off the impending precipitation as they rip-roared into an exciting conclusion to this special set, much to the delight of the crowd.
The band stepped off stage and quickly returned, armed with a list of personnel to thank for making this incredible tour happen. As a gift to all of these folks, the band played the very rare cover of 'Praise You' by Fatboy Slim. This tune was last played in Pittsburgh, PA, on February 12, 2022, at the end of the 2022 winter tour, and capped off a lights-out performance by Goose in their home state.
Summer tour has ended, but Goose will return very soon at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on September 1st. Tickets are available via this link. Visit their tour page for more details on the upcoming fall tour.
Check out more photos from Goose at the Westville Music Bowl. Also, view our prior summer tour 2024 coverage: Fiddler's Green, Fox Night One, Fox Night Two, Fox Night Three, the Mann Center, and Forest Hills Stadium.
Set One: Butter Rum, Mr. Action, Elizabeth, Rockdale
Set Two: Pancakes > Milestone 2 (Skux Life)1 -> Pancakes, Everything Must Go, This Old Sea > The Empress Of Organos
Encore: Praise You2
Coach's Notes:
[1] Moniker.
[2] Fatboy Slim.
Show Notes: Milestone 2 (Skux Life) was played for the first time since August 18, 2022 (146 shows). Praise You was played for the first time since February 12, 2022 (184 shows).
