Photos and review by: Jason Robey
CHARLOTTE, NC — Jam band quartet Goose returned to the Queen City for a night of electric improvisational interplay, musical peaks, and sonic exploration. The venue buzzed with anticipation and setlist hopes as the sun went down over the growing crowd. This evening’s show was celebrating the 11th anniversary of the first Goose show on September 27, 2014 in Stamford, CT, showcasing the development of their style and growth as a band.
Opening the show was Penelope Road, for the second of two nights on the bill. The group’s charismatic energy and genre-blurring style served as a perfect warmup, with their 80s-pop-rock-meets-millenium-jam style. Shimmering guitars and harmonies echoed throughout the pavilion as they played a short-but-sweet set of original tunes mixed with covers of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” and the Tears For Fears classic “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” The Atlanta-based group has been making their way around the Southeast, with this pair of slots supporting Goose undoubtedly picking up some new fans along the way.
When the lights dimmed for Goose to take the stage, fans exploded with cheers, as ambient tones spiraled through the venue. The stage roared to life with the opening notes of the newly introduced track “Royal,” making its debut a month prior. Guitarist/vocalist Rick Mitarotonda led with his usual quiet charisma, with his smooth vocals soaring over soul-tintedguitar lines, while Peter Anspach’s keys and harmonies filled the space. Songs unfolded like living creatures as the composed parts would evolve into something completely different and unique from every other performance. A mid-set cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Me and My Uncle” drew a huge crowd reaction, as the band spent some extra time jamming between verses. Following the back-to-back slower songs “Your Ocean” and “Silver Rising,” they closed the set with a masterful 21-minute version of “Hungersite,” leaving a taste of what was to come after the break.
The group wasted no time going deep into exploratory jamming territory in the second set, kicking into a 20-minute “Thatch” that wove in and out of familiar themes and beautiful improvisation, eventually morphing into an equally jammy “Creatures,” which kissed the 25-minute mark. As that was reaching its peak, a familiar theme began emerging, eventually breaking into a cover of Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights” that drove the audience into a dancing frenzy. To close out the monster set, Goose invited members of Penelope Road to join them for funk-heavy performance of “So Ready.” They returned for a cool-down encore of “Give It Time” for one last taste of the band’s incredible energy to tide the Charlotte crowd until next time. Check Goose out on their social media channels for seemingly never-ending tour dates.
fuelthescene.com 