Those of us into Phish have become used to tours becoming a series of mini-runs: a double header at a shed; a night off; a Friday, Saturday, Sunday at an anchor venue; four nights at Dicks. Goose is touring the old fashioned way, with a crew breaking down the stage right after the encore, packing up, and driving to the next venue overnight just to do it all over again. In three nights Goose has been in Omaha, Kansas City, and Indianapolis. Here we discuss the latter two.
What not to miss (6/11 & 6/12):
Inside out
Hungersite
Hot Tea
Everything Must Go
Goose took the stage at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City Tuesday night opening with Butterflies and Lead the Way which bled into what initially sounded like some sort of outro jam but found its way into the beginning of Flodown and a particularly fun version at that.
There were two jams that forcefully anchored each set. The first came in their cover of Spoon’s Inside Out with a jam that veered far from the song in spectacular fashion. Eventually the year’s first Fifth of Beethoven surfaced (aka Goose’s 2001) before closing the set with a So Ready.
An unfinished Rockdale opened the second set which was good but becomes quickly lost in comparison to the Hungersite which came right after a good rendition of Dark Horse—a sort of landing pad to Rockdale.
There is now a debate which could be credibly had: has the Salt Shed Hungersite been toppled? Discuss amongst yourselves. On a related note, I am shocked to learn that Kansas City apparently has legalized machine guns. The Midland Theatre Hungersite comes out of the gates strong and starts picking up heat going into about the 13-minute mark. Rick surfaces on his fully automatic guitar for rapid fire notes—not missing one, each one clear…naturally. This goes on for some time before someone (is it Cotter?) can be heard yelling “yeah!”. The jam urgently goes into new territory, up and down, and eventually finds itself in a Mad World jam (more than a tease I’d say) amidst some fast, funky strumming which brings the full band to a swell. I really could have listened to ten more minutes of this but, alas, all good things come to an end and this does just that at about 24 minutes. As good as this one was, and it is a best-of version, I still consider Salt Shed’s the apex version. Perhaps my mind will be swayed after a couple more listens.
A Western Sun cools things down nicely with a pretty version before going into the set-closing Hot Tea, a take which is particularly hot with Peter coming out of the gates on his Moog (does he have one yet or is he using his synth?).
The following night at the Everwise Amp nestled in the White River State Park in Indiana is over double the size venue of the previous night, a much more traditional outdoor shed. In fact, the style reminds me a lot of Deer Creek (also in Indiana). This show would be the weakest of the tour so far but it is merely a victim of how amazing all the other shows have been. This is by no means a bad show, just more close to standard. Rick came out with his guns ready to play in the white cutoff shirt (is this Trey in 1991?) to the excitement of many (me).
The first four songs, all good, were played without needing a terrible amount of notation. Yeti surfaced for the first time since the tour opener although it cannot compare to that second-set opening version. Trevor did bring back his slapping at the onset of the jam, similar to the previous version. In fact, Trevor seems to be slapping a heck-of-a-lot this tour. Sure, he’s turned up, but his style definitely seems more aggressive and funky. I ain’t mad at him.
Everything Must go slips out of Yeti to close the set. The jam is a slow burn for sure but eventually it’s as if Rick realizes that he hasn’t shredded all set yet and all of a sudden deforms his face and turns the fire up to 10. I love this man so much.
Danger Zone, one of my favorites, opens up the second set. With the sun down and the lights out, the Creatures which follows drew all the creatures of the night out with a particularly danceable version which reprises the teases of Mad World from the night before. Shama Lama puts a smile on everyone’s face with a shift to this mid-set ballad (would you consider it a ballad?). Moby rises from the ether for a psychedelic bass attack with Trevor stepping on his envelope filter to rattle the chests of everyone in attendance. The song fades back into the ether from which it came and the beginning of Dripfield starts becoming more defined. The beginning of the jam had Peter and Rick face-to-face with their guitars before Peter kicked it back over to his keys for piano driven jam. The jam left the song unfinished as it segued into Rosewood Heart, and unexpected closer
A rollicking Empress sent the fans off into the night.