A little more on the UM comparison. That is to say most modern jam bands tend to fall into categories: they often lean into psychedelics, or funk, or southern blues rock, or are highly influenced by Phish, or weirdly there’s a thread of bands I think that are influences very significantly by Talking Heads, reggae, jazz, bluegrass and country - and there’s often some crossover. Goose seems to be able to straddle all of this pretty seamlessly, like it’s all naturally part of their DNA, all while Rick Mitarotonda manages to play on a plain that is among the current best on this scene. This scene is currently full of great emerging guitarists, which I personally would include Daniel Donato, Marcus King, Taz Niederauer, and Billy Strings as a starter set. He’s just as good as those guys who are all pretty special.

At the same time, Goose doesn’t immediately flex - it’s not all noodling solos (there are plenty of them), and the songs aren’t just perfunctory jumping off points - they I think take songwriting pretty seriously for a jam band. It makes for a balance I think is what separates them from their peers right now. That said, I also think Marcus King is doing that very thing with the southern blues rock element so take that for what it’s worth.

You and I should get along really well IRL.

Probably based on the Allman Brothers thread alone. When I was a teenager, lived in upstate New York, there was not much to do, but rock music really just mattered to my friends. I can recall those days when we’d be 15 years old but holed up in our bedrooms with the CD player tape deck combo, listening to hours of Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam bootlegs arguing over versions of songs from these tapes whilst also just being enveloped by these amazing wizards with guitars that could channel god knows what powers. No drugs or alcohol - just friendship and an obsessive love of this rock music to guide us through. If a band can recapture that in me again, they are a band I’m gonna ride into the sunset with. I am usually good friends with just about anyone who shares that sort of passion for this entertainment - even when the bands are different that we ramble on about. Hell, the close friend I spent more than a decade doing that with loved Dream Theater - not my bag but hey if that made him happy he could go with it. Probably part of the ease of loving jam bands is you can talk about a particular moment in a live version of a song in exceptionally exaggerated terms, and not only will they not think you are nuts, but they might just pass you whatever they are smoking.

Goose - Philadelphia, PA 3/12/2022

Another exceptional show from this band with a totally different set. The second set really outshown the first but they are both very good. California Magic is great. Dr. Darkness is quick but very good, and the long Red Bird definitely brings a Grateful Dead jam to mind. In the second set, Arcadia is the best so far, Fish in the Sea has an epic jam, This Old Sea is very nice, and Factory Fiction is pretty phenomenal. I might prefer the Denver show but this one is real good too.

Set One: All I Need, California Magic, Dr. Darkness, Red Bird

Set Two: Hungersite, Please Forgive Me, Arcadia, Fish in the Sea, This Old Sea, Factory Fiction

Encore: Arrow

Goose - Dripfield (2022)

What is it about third albums? It’s always exciting when a band with a ton of promise finally realizes it in the studio - especially a band like this that fires on all cylinders live. Only for Goose, this isn’t a reasonable facsimile of a live show, but something altogether different. This feels more crafted - sure it sounds like them, but here they seem a bit more careful about their choices both sonically and lyrically, and it all comes together beautifully. Borne is a perfect slow burning album opener giving you a glimpse of what’s to come without blowing the load in the first song. Hungersite is the sort of bread and butter that earned them their growing fan base. And then Dripfield and onward starts the process of bending their sound around in interesting ways that stay true to them. Slow Ready is a slow jam that begs for too 40 - a rare choice for a jam band. The Whales and Honeybee expand further into the sounds explored in the title track while Hot Tea and Arrow show some range. Moonrise screams Simon and Garfunkel while 726 starts off as a sort of album closing ballad into a swimmier close. Really phenomenal album after a few listens.

Orebolo - Volume I (2022)

This acoustic (a-goose-tic?) trio is Rick Mitarotonda on lead guitar, Peter Anspach on rhythm guitar, and Jeffrey Arevalo on standup bass. Playing mostly Goose songs with a few covers, these guys are doing a great job of stripping down and laying bare their songs, proof positive that they are definitely getting it right. Stunning versions of Tumble, Echo of a Rose, Arcadia, Arrow, and Rockdale are some of the highlights, though the real stars here are Dripfield, a song seemingly very difficult to pull off stripped down, and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s Ship of Fools, a beautiful version of this song. Definitely a must hear on this journey.

Orebolo - OurVinyl Sessions (2022)

What can the acoustic trio accomplish in a mere 20 minutes? On this one, a completely different track list and not in front of an audience, Orebolo power through a brief but solid Hungersite, and get down to business on Slow Ready and Creatures, two songs that rely heavily on vocal distortion and atmospherics in their day jobs, here translates expertly with harmonies and interplay. A wonderful Madhuvan closes this one as one of the better songs between both releases. Definitely will try to check this out should they come around locally.

Goose - Undecided EP (2022)

It would appear these were a few leftover recordings from the Dripfield sessions released on an EP. Generally speaking, these tracks are very much the equal of what ended up on the album, so there’s no drop in quality. All I Need is re-recorded a bit closer to the live versions, though the beginning of the song has a cowbell or something that’s a bit too high in the mix. Elizabeth is funky and fun. Tumble is a straightforward recreation as well. Undecided is a really cool way to finish this off, a bit outside their typical wheelhouse - a bit more studio trickery than you’d expect. An excellent companion to Dripfield for sure.

thanks for this! I've been enjoying this band a lot of late. Especially the live content they are always sharing on you tube.

I still feel like they haven't gotten it quiet right in the studio yet. Or the "songs" are a bit lacking.

Love the Orebolo stuff, especially that Dead set they did a while back during lockdown https://youtu.be/qFuu3kK4gpk

Do you know what the story is behind "This Old Sea"? It blows my mind they haven't put that on an album yet. I think its their best song. Love the version from Fred Fest with Taylor Dawes https://youtu.be/mzU05v_wAg4.

Anyways, thanks again. enjoyed your breakdowns. I suspect the best is yet to come from these guys (geese).

Thanks! I have been sticking to Spotify for this but have checked out some stuff on Nugs.net which also has a ton of content. I do think Dripfield is them finally really finding it in the studio, as well as the Undecided EP. Journey will end Thursday, culminating in my first Goose show!

Goose - Broomfield, CO 12/16/2022

Goosemas! As a way to celebrate the holidays, the band played Broomfield, CO over a couple of nights and this was the first show. This set immediate seems to have an unpredictable nature to it, as rather than relying on basic setlist staples as a starting point, they come out bluesgrass with Flodown, almost ballady on Everything Must Go, then reggae with Butter Rum. The Old Man’s Boat, a short for that song Drive, a Christmas song, and SOS finish a real solid but unexpected first set.

That’s only the beginning! The bingo machine comes back out for set two, though the bingo balls are instead filled out by the audience, so the band really has no idea what’s coming. Despite that, the second set is really great, with Pancakes, Wysteria Lane, Rockdale and a short and sweet White Lights highlighting.

Set One: Flodown, Everything Must Go, Butter Rum, The Old Man’s Boat, Drive, Christmas Must Be Tonight, SOS

Set Two: Pancakes, Rosewood Heart, Trevor Reads Christmas Poetry, Wysteria Lane, Moby, Rockdale

Encore: White Lights

Goose - Cincinnati, OH 12/31/2022

From Goosemas to New Year’s! These shows were released in streaming platforms consecutive weeks, and really demonstrate this band hitting a peak. This one has a few more songs (it’s also a longer show) but just as much improvisation as the other shows. In clearly great spirits, the band plows through an opening slate of their meat and potatoes - All I Need, Hungersite, and Drive make early appearances. The new song, Mr. Action, is quite good. In set two, Dr. Darkness, a 80s take on Indian River, Madhuvan/Auld Lang Sine (it’s new years!!), and then a long epic Empress of Organos is fantastic. Their live version of Dripfield is fantastic, and ending the night on Animal seems just right. Great show.

Set One: All I Need, Borne, Hungersite, Mr. Action, Red Bird, Drive

Set Two: Dr. Darkness, Indian River, Silver Rising, Madhuvan>Auld Lang Sine, The Empress of Organos, Thatch, Dripfield

Encore: This Year’s Love, Animal

Jesus Christ man. How many releases do they have?

That was the most recent.

I am slated to see them tomorrow night in Port Chester. That will at least complete this journey. But yeah, for a band that had basically no releases between 2016 and 2020, they have a lot of material out there now.

You timed that perfectly! What an excellent capper.

Yeah I was hoping to be done by the show, but couldn’t have timed it better. Hoping for a fun night…they are playing 5 nights in a row there and we are night 2.

Goose - Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY 3/9/23

In some ways, this marks the end of this journey of getting to the show, and in reality, the journey’s now just begun. To say that recordings don’t do this band justice would be a massive understatement. The energy swirling around the place - the band, the crowd, and the lights created really an atmosphere that pretty unmatched…and the playing…holy smokes these guys can tear it up. You can sort of get what’s happening on the live recordings with Rick Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach, or at least a fraction of it, but you really miss out on the rest of the band that’s just incredibly tight. Borne was nuts - the bass and drums going at double time while guitar and keys played at a normal pace and it sounded just as good if not better than the record. The psychedelic swirl of the first part of the Madhuvan jam turning into a massive band freak out was on another level. The first set closing Rockdale might have been one of the best live music moments I have ever experienced. This band is more than worth the hype…I was with a die hard Phish fan who admitted these guys topped them. Honestly, this could have been the best show I’ve ever seen.

Set One: Jive I, Atlas Dogs, Elizabeth, California Magic, Borne, The Old Man’s Boat, Rockdale

Set Two: Tumble, Not Alone, Rosewood Heart, Sinnerman, Madhuvan

Encore: Turned Clouds

When you get a chance post a top 10 song list of their tunes

I’ll put together a studio top 10, but I’d say maybe half their songs haven’t made it into the studio yet.

I am a terrible self-editor when it comes to music, so you get a top 20 in studio and curated into a playlist (not in order of preference). As noted, maybe half of the songs they play have made it to a studio recording so there’s much more to them than this, but here’s a stab:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OSPe ... =copy-link

For those without Spotify:

Borne (Dripfield)
Hungersite (Dripfield)
All I Need (Undecided EP)
Arcadia (Moon Cabin)
Hot Tea (Dripfield)
Tumble (Undecided EP)
Slow Ready (Dripfield)
Satellite (Shenanigans Nite Club)
Wysteria Lane (Night Lights EP)
Into the Myst (Moon Cabin)
Indian River (Moon Cabin)
Butter Rum (Night Lights EP)
Elizabeth (Undecided EP)
Arrow (Dripfield)
Lead the Way (Moon Cabin)
(Dawn) (Shenanigans Nite Club)
Spirit of the Dark Horse (Shenanigans Nite Club)
Dripfield (Dripfield)
Madhuvan (Shenanigans Nite Club)
Undecided (Undecided EP)