Goose performed Great Blue’s “Butterflies” and Vasudo’s “Turbulence & The Night Rays” for the first time last night in Thornville, Ohio. Both debuts came in the first set of the band’s opening night of a two-show run at Legend Valley.
Both Great Blue and Vasudo pre-date Goose. Keyboardist Peter Anspach formed Great Blue (which still performs sporadically) while still in high school and has brought other songs from the band’s repertoire to Goose. Vasudo, which has also supplied Goose’s repertoire, returned last year after an eight-year hiatus. The band features keyboardist Matt Campbell along with Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda, drummer/percussionist Jeff Arevalo, bassist Trevor Weekz and Anspach.
After opening Friday’s first set with “California Magic,” Goose dipped into the Great Blue catalog for the band’s first live offering of “Butterflies.” Anspach and his Great Blue cohorts recently shared an in-studio performance video of the new song and played “Butterflies” last month at Legend Valley during their set at Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s Domefest event.
“Since this place is so comfortable, we’re gonna play a couple of new songs tonight,” Anspach said prior to playing the Great Blue song. “And here’s one of those.”
Goose followed the debut with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.” Next came a pairing of “The Old Man’s Boat” with “Creatures,” the latter of which opened up into a lengthy jam. The first set ended with “Turbulence & The Night Rays,” marking Goose’s first time playing the Vasduo song that dates back to around 2012.
“All I Need” was selected to start the second set. Over 30-minutes later Goose completed the opener, infusing it with expansive improvisation along the way. Eventually, the band segued into a cover of “Nights In White Satin” by The Moody Blues. The rest of the set was made up of the recently added “Red Bird” and another prominent jam, followed by a closing coupling of “Spirit Of The Dark Horse” with “Dragonfly I.” Night one at Legend Valley drew to a close with a “Jive I” encore.
Goose plays in Thornville again tonight. A livestream is available via Liveone.com.
Watch pro-shot video of “California Magic” and most of the debut of “Butterflies” below:
https://www.facebook.com/gooseband/videos/996877684356755
Setlist (via El Göose.net)
Set One: California Magic, Butterflies [1], Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo [2], **Custom, The Old Man’s Boat > Creatures, Turbulence & The Night Rays [3]
Set Two: All I Need > Nights In White Satin [4], Red Bird, Spirit Of The Dark Horse > Dragonfly I
Encore: Jive II
Notes:
- [1] FTP, Great Blue
- [2] The Grateful Dead
- [3] FTP, Vasudo
- [4] The Moody Blues
