Goose Throws Down the Gauntlet
A pair of explosive shows in St. Louis to kick off tour was quite the statement
When Goose announced they were parting ways with Ben right as the band was exploding with popularity and reaching a new apex of their music I admit I was a bit concerned. This seemed like a bad move right after they played a sold-out run at Hampton in December. How could they crush this momentum?! Sure, Ben was a bit untz-y for my taste. He didn’t present the free-flowing dexterity of Fishman, but I learned to love him for his ability to drive jams hard—all while still giving the camera his million-dollar smile. Well, that’s over, and it’s clear that Goose did the best possible job by picking up Cotter Ellis. Amazing. Bravo.
After intoning their grueling 20-show June tour (is this 1993 Phish?) with an offering at the festival in Chillicothe featuring a solid Tumble and a show-anchoring Into the Myst → Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Goose took stage at The Factory in St. Louis for a two-night stint.
The first thing which jumped out at me was the segue between All I Need and Time to Flee. One of my qualms when getting into Goose (which wasn’t easy, but thanks Aaron!) was that they seemed not to creatively segue a whole lot. Phish are masters of the segue of course and, to me, it’s a huge sign of both improvisational creativity and musical ability. This segue was meandering, thought out, and, not to bring Phish into it again, reminded me of the 8/13/2010 Meatstick → Mango Song combo. It was a beautiful beginning to the show and quite a statement showing just how seamless Goose already is with a new member in the band.
The set’s highlights didn’t end with the All I Need/Time to Flee sammich. The quintet dropped a jaw-droppingly gorgeous rendition of Borne. Rick’s soloing closing out the composed section was stunning. Well, that only took us about 8 minutes into the song. What about the last 22 minutes? I didn’t attend this show but I jumped on the stream right at about this point in Borne. I honestly thought they were covering 2001—as proven by the text to my chat below:
Oh, I’ll get the the Yeti. But the type-II jam in Borne starts out of nowhere and really has heavy 2001 vibes between the drum beat and slinky riffing. What a way to close out the first set. It’s a lot of fun when bands close out a set on a huge jam and not a typical closer.
So, Yeti, jeez. It’s not quite in 9/26/2023 territory, but I’d entertain the debate. Trevor is lucky not to have been charged with domestic abuse after he slapped the sh*t out of his bass right out of the gates in this jam. Just who hurt him during the setbreak for him to come out swinging like this. The jam pops off solidly for a good time before offering a quick but appreciated funky Trev breakdown and then finding an outro with Peter adding nicely with his Fender.
Following Yeti comes Slow Ready which finds its way into Mais Que Nada where Peter tickles his keys nicely to compliment the cover. The set closes with an Empress of Organos which blows doors down. The mellow, moog-y sounding Peter-led jam crescendos into a crisp, driving rock which ensues until the end had me sweating.
The second night’s first stanza was anchored by a great Earthling or Alien and a monster Tumble. The second half features four songs (is this Goose Destroys America 1997?) kicked off with a particularly dirty Thatch with Trevor, again, slapping the hell out of his guitar. Creatures slips nicely into a great rendition of Red Bird before they decided to close with a face-melting Tomorrow Never Knows.
These two shows proved more to me than even the Capitol Theater shows did. These first two shows cemented the beginning of a new era of Goose—one which pushes the improvisational boundaries even further. Cotter was clearly the best possible pick for Goose moving forward. His free-form and loose-yet-powerful style is something I honestly haven’t heard in a drummer since Fishman. How cool it is that Fish was in town for the shows.
I can’t wait to see what else this June, and year, brings. Stay tuned for more commentary.
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