Goose brought their Europe tour back to Germany last night for a show at Gretchen, a disco club in Berlin. Boasting brick ceilings and ornate pillars around the room, the tightly packed space felt as if it was underground, despite being on the ground level.
A huge disco ball hung in the middle of the ceiling, giving lighting designer Andrew Goedde an extra tool to use throughout the night.
Photo by Ryan Storm
Cramming onto the tiny stage (multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach had to climb over his Leslie speaker), Goose ripped through a hot “Mr. Action” opener, making it clear that repeats were on the table going forward.
Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda was on fire throughout the show and really went for it in a short but concise “Elizabeth.” Choogling through the song itself, Anspach hit the clav as we were treated to a sub-10-minute version that felt much longer. Breaking from the song in one of the only moments of Type II play at last night’s show, we got an excellent take on the “Elizabliss” themes that have been developing this fall (see September 17 for another excellent microjam example). The first set continued with “Time to Flee,” the goofy Anspach-penned song beginning a blazing Type I shred trend that would continue throughout the show.
If you’re looking for some high-energy guitar work, look no further than this “Rockdale.” Beginning with some exemplary clavinet work from Anspach, drummer Ben Atkind and percussionist Jeff Arevalo dug into the groove through its typically strong jam – and the crowd fed off it with gusto, belting out the lyrics to what is one of Goose’s classic singalong bangers.
Father John Misty cover “Writing a Novel” brought the second choogle song of the night (only missing CCR’s “Green River” to complete Goose’s “choogle-fecta”), featuring excellent harmonies and guitar solos from Anspach and Mitarotonda before a ripping “Hot Tea” closed the set.
The energy continued unabated through the short set break and into the second set-opening “Slow Ready,” which had some incredibly deep bass vibrations courtesy of Trevor Weekz. The arpeggiated synth jam had the crowd going wild before a smooth transition into “SOS.” While normally a first-set song or a second-set closer, it worked well in this slot and RAGED. The capacity crowd jumped up and down for joy as the energy grew and peaked repeatedly.
A hint at extended improvisation came in the “Rosewood Heart” that anchored the middle of the set, where Atkind led the usual rhythmic motif into a charging groove. Anspach hit the vibraphone as they emphasized a percussive theme through a solid peak. “Rosewood” seemed poised for liftoff then, but Goose instead opted to swerve into a funky cover of Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.” My initial dismay at the lack of jam didn’t last long due to the incredible clavinet solo produced by Anspach during the song.
Last night’s concert closed with “The Empress of Organos” – the second version of the tour to show some serious grit and grime potential but sadly had to be truncated due to an early curfew. Europeans really love their post-concert disco!
With Brussels next on the menu, Goose has officially crossed the halfway point of their European run. In addition to the legions of fans following them across the continent, there have been groups of newly converted people at every show who have all voiced their excitement and enjoyment of seeing the American Goose live for the first time.
Tomorrow night’s 280-capacity show at the AB Club in Brussels, Belgium will be available to livestream for nugs.net subscribers at 2 pm ET.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzjGDrWubBm/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzjG_qCOkqy/
https://goosetheband.bandcamp.com/album/2023-11-11-gretchen-berlin-de
Setlist (via El Göose.net)
Set One: Mr. Action, Elizabeth, Time to Flee, Rockdale, Writing A Novel, Hot Tea
Set Two: Slow Ready -> Same Old Shenanigans > Rosewood Heart > A Fifth Of Beethoven, The Empress Of Organos
