Goose Kicks Off European Tour With 4-Song 2nd Set In Paris

Goose began their first-ever international tour last night in Paris at the small 700-capacity Trabendo. After a hugely successful U.S. fall tour that culminated with two sold-out nights at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Connecticut quintet were ready to embark on a new adventure across the pond.

The twelve-date tour will see the band play venues significantly smaller than they are used to at home before they return in December for a pair of Goosemas shows at Hampton Coliseum.

Trabendo is a small club within the Parc de Villette, an area that also hosts the Paris Philharmonic venue and the Grand Hall de la Villette, site of the annual Jazz A La Villette festival. The room itself is split into a couple of levels to offer great sight lines (and even has a sign to point out the best spot, which incidentally was mostly empty last night), though suffered a little bit from strict noise ordinances in the area, making the show a bit quieter than normal and forcing a super tight showtime.

The band took the stage at a record eight (!) minutes after the scheduled 7:45 showtime, eyes already on the 10:30 curfew. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach greeted the Parisian crowd before Goose started up the first cover of “Me & My Uncle” since January 27, 2022 (155 shows). Once a staple of the rotation, this John Phillips/Grateful Dead cover paid homage to the latter band’s legendary Europe ’72 tour which also began in Paris. Goose’s unique arrangement to the song lent a very different vibe than the more country-tinged Dead version and was also notable for being the first time Anspach played piano on the tune instead of guitar.

The quintet, packed tightly on the Trabendo stage, wasted no time next and dove into an expansive “All I Need.” Fall tour saw a handful of shorter versions of the setlist staple, though last night’s stretched past the 20-minute mark and saw the band warming up their improv chops after nearly a month off the road. Guitarist Rick Mitarotonda pushed the band through a minor-key foray into a blissy space that also let Anspach shine on piano. The keyboardist took control post-peak and let loose some grimy clavinet work through the unrelenting momentum of the jam as the band dove back into a groovier minor key. Anspach continued to dominate on piano through the ending of the excellent “All I Need,” giving the show and tour its first dose of extended improv.

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The first set continued with solid versions of “Mr. Action,” “The Whales” and “Turbulence & The Night Rays,” all three letting Mitarotonda unleash some fireworks on the crowd as the guitar domination continued. That trend was even more apparent during the set-closing “Drive” > “Bob Don” > “Drive” sandwich, where Anspach added crunchy rhythm counterpoints to the soaring leads. In the latter “Drive,” the band hit the song’s groove with extra momentum thanks to Anspach’s quick switch to marimba-infused piano. The short-yet-fun exploration of this space closed out the first set in fine fashion.

If the opening frame of the tour was to help the band get more comfortable in a new country, the four-song second set that lasted just over an hour was as if Goose had been playing in Paris for years. “Madhuvan” opened up immediately into its typical dark and spacey jam space, bassist Trevor Weekz dropping bomb after bomb as drummer Ben Atkind and percussionist Jeff Arevalo utilized a textured approach with heavy cymbal and tom work. Anspach swirled in on some wild organ as the jam developed and eventually made the now-expected major-key pivot.

As the second set unfolded, lighting designer Andrew Goedde threw up a curtain of light in front of the band, an effect only seen a handful of times before but a favorite of his in a small room. Colors seemed to undulate outwards in time with the spacey music as he painted the small space exceptionally.

The explosive conclusion to “Madhuvan” quickly led into the beginning of “Red Bird,” which saw Anspach utilize a surprisingly full-bodied Rhodes patch on his Nord Stage. The keyboardist clearly put effort into the sound that was replacing his Vintage Vibe electric piano, which didn’t make the trip across the pond.

Much like the second set opener, “Red Bird” went deep quickly and hit on some dark and Eastern-tinged themes, a common Goose jam motif. Atkind took the lead on toms as Mitarotonda’s dirty riffs punched across Anspach’s chordal piano work. Deviating from the written setlist for the first time, the band skipped the planned “Hot Tea” and instead cooled down with a beautiful rendition of “A Western Sun.”

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One thing I had heard about European concert crowds previously was that they are much more respectful (read: quieter) during the show, and this was on full display during “AWS” last night. Mitarotonda’s beautiful vocals reached across a nearly-silent audience as we stood enthralled by the beautiful song.

Goose closed last night out with an exclamation point in the form of a hot “The Empress of Organos.” Briefly diving into a darker jam akin to the version from April 25, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon, we were treated to more fiery guitar playing from Mitarotonda as smiles abounded for the end of the show.

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As we walked out into the cool Paris night, I couldn’t help but feel immense gratitude and excitement for the fact that there are ten more nights on this European run – and I cannot WAIT to witness Goose develop over time!

Goose’s European Tour continues tonight in Cologne. A webcast will be available to nugs.net subscribers (Wi-Fi pending) at 1:40 p.m. ET/10:40 a.m. PT.

Setlist (via El Goose)

Set One: Me & My Uncle[1], All I Need[2], Mr. Action > The Whales, Turbulence & The Night Rays > Drive > Bob Don > Drive

Set Two: Madhuvan, Red Bird > A Western Sun, The Empress Of Organos

Coach’s Notes:

• [1] John Philips.
• [2] Slow, melodic version.

Show Notes: Me & My Uncle was played for the first time since January 27, 2022 (155 shows).

Source: JamBase.com