The Oracles of Omaha
Capturing something transcendent, Goose continues steamrolling every city in their path
Just days after playing a much larger 18,000-person venue in Colorado, Goose made their way into the Great Plains to the much more intimate Steelhouse in Omaha. This was just the second time the band has been in the state. The small venue holds no more than 3,000 people. When I hear of concerts in Nebraska, my mind immediately wanders to special events such as Phish’s Beat It show on 10/21/95 in Lincoln. Peter took to the stage in his Weezer 2008 tour shirt and Cotter seems to have lost the pagan symbols of the Ted Tapes on his kick drum (which I am just noticing now at least).
What not to miss:
Cantaloupe Island
Butter Rum
Into the Myst
Arcadia
The Way it is
Goose’s show opened with lively renditions of Dr. Darkness and Howard Johnson before transitioning into Indian River. Indian River starts in typical fashion before Cotter closes up his hi-hat for a tighter groove led by Peter before segueing into Herbie Hancock’s Cantaloupe Island which proves to be particularly impressive. Peter’s soloing giving way to Rick’s sets a great mood in the small venue before ending with a powerful segment from Cotter to finish.
Echo of a Rose captures a great, euphoric tone before a dramatic sounding ending and segueing into Honey Bee, kind of a landing pad within a song. Bob Don with the outro jam and it’s hot, clean guitar is a welcome addition to this Sandwich of a Rose.
The real star of the first set, however, is Butter Rum which goes type-II. It seems like type-II jams are rearing their heads often this tour which makes 2024 that much interesting. This version started with some swanky, aggressive strumming before sinking down into a darker jam divorced from the initial song structure; a contrast to the song vibe entirely. This dark theme builds, combining the guitar swank from earlier with some screaming soloing before seamlessly returning to the song. I believe it was during this song that I also noticed how dope the downward-facing fog machines are.
I was excited when I heard the opening notes of the tour’s first Pancakes. Aside from the hilariously psychedelic lyrics, this song has a special place in my heart ever since the Salt Shed banger in 2023. The jam is definitely solid but I won’t throw it on my What Not to Miss list. The Myst that follows, although a short endeavor, has a glorious and euphoric full-band-jam ending. The Arcadia that closes this four-song second set (again, is this ’97 Phish?!) with a jam which is about 85% dirtè funk and 15% hawt guitar at the end which comes to a halt to end the song, something that gave me flashbacks to some Phish jams (flashes of Quincy). The The Way it is to encore was probably my favorite version they have played. Peter took a page out of Bruce’s playbook from last year’s Hampton show with him, using a lingering introduction on the keys before starting the song. Trev comes in hot with the beginning and the clarion tone of Rick’s guitar during the instrumental section was beautiful. The song has a bit of a jam riffing on some tension from Rick before snapping into the final lines.
This show, while maybe slightly less explosive than the other shows of the tour, was an excellent outing from the band and a welcome addition to this awesome tour.