Carol Of The Request Balls: Goose Wraps Goosemas IX With Festive Finale

After a jam-heavy first night at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado on Friday, Goose returned for their second night of Goosemas IX and delivered a Saturday night rager to the energetic capacity crowd.

Taking the stage around 8:45 p.m., the quintet fired up the traditional “Carol of the Bells,” last played at Goosemas VI in 2019 – a gap of 178 shows. “Turbulence & The Night Rays” was tapped next as guitarist Rick Mitarotonda shredded the upbeat rocker to pieces.

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“Atlas Dogs” led into the first huge jam of the night in “Time to Flee.” The Peter Anspach-penned tune has had a tamer year than it did in 2021, but last night’s version more than matches up to the best of them. Beginning in a major-key space, Anspach began to build tension around the nine-minute mark and was quickly followed by Mitarotonda. A minor theme developed with great percussion work from Jeff Arevalo and solid anchoring bass from Trevor Weekz as the jam got more and more dissonant. Peaking after the 12th minute, “Flee” was far from done as Mitarotonda soared to the heavens while keeping it firmly in a darker zone.

Coming down from the peak, Goose dropped into a funky groove as Anspach alternated between nice chordal piano and dirty Clavinet work. Descending once more into a darker theme, some nice chunky rhythm guitar from Mitarotonda led the band to one final peak and a smooth return to the song.

The lone “breather” song of the set and show came in a quick reading of the ballad “A Western Sun,” which led nicely into the set-closing “Tumble.” The crowd went absolutely wild when the quintet dropped into the jam and the band responded in kind, beginning in a funky zone with choppy rhythm guitar work from Anspach and Mitarotonda, which saw both guitarists approaching the groove very differently.

Drummer Ben Atkind and bassist Weekz locked in on the Tumble groove and gave the guitarists ample space to explore as the jam shifted gears into a brighter space that saw Anspach hitting the piano. Peak after peak ensued before one final massive build led to the end of the song and set.

Just like Friday night, the second set was decided based on a random pulling of fan-request balls submitted before the show. Leading off was “Thatch,” a song that debuted during November’s TABoose Tour that has quickly become a fan favorite. The aggressive and funky jam featured some awesome stop/start funk breakdowns that saw Weekz really destroying on slap bass.

“Creatures” was tapped next to keep the dance party vibe going. Lighting designer Andrew Goedde lit up the inside of the 1STBANK with oscillating lights, different patterns, and so much creativity all weekend but really shined during this song. His Goosemas rig is actually Goedde’s largest lighting setup ever used with Goose, and he perfectly filled the arena along with the band’s incredible music.

An atypical call for “Slow Ready” with just the arpeggiator jam for the first time ever led into “Factory Fiction.” Mitarotonda took the jam in a new direction almost immediately, driving the band into a dark and haunting groove reminiscent of some early 2022 jams. The motif eventually transformed into an almost “Madhuvan”-esque build and peak, returning to conclude the song perfectly.

A romp through “Animal” (complete with animal sounds from Anspach’s keyboards) gave way to the long-awaited Colorado debut of “Dripfield.” Once again proving that it is THE arena song, “Drip” saw more great dual-guitar interplay as Atkind and Arevalo demolished the primal drumbeat.

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The encore was a quick sandwich of “Linus and Lucy” inside Goose rocker “Hot Tea,” sending the audience home with a bang.

So many kudos to the entire band AND CREW who made the first two-night Goosemas celebration an absolutely unforgettable event. Who knows what’s going to be in store for Goosemas X next year…

Goose plays the intimate Fox Theater in Boulder tonight as a benefit for Conscious Alliance. A livestream is available via nugs.net.

https://goosetheband.bandcamp.com/album/2022-12-17-goosemas-ix-1stbank-center-broomfield-co

Setlist (via ElGoose.net)

Set One: Carol Of The Bells[1], Turbulence & The Night Rays, Atlas Dogs, Time to Flee, A Western Sun, Tumble

Set Two: Thatch, Creatures, Slow Ready[2], Factory Fiction, Animal[3], Dripfield

Encore: Hot Tea > Linus And Lucy[4] > Hot Tea

Soundcheck: Atlas Dogs, Animal (this soundcheck is incomplete)

Coach’s Notes:

• [1] Traditional.
• [2] Jam only.
• [3] With animal sounds.
• [4] Vince Guaraldi.

Coach’s Corner: The second set was decided based on a random selection of balls with fan requests written on them. Before the encore, the crowd did the wave and Jeb told an elf joke as prompted by the balls. Carol of the Bells was played for the first time since December 21, 2019 (178 shows).

Source: JamBase.com