I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 15, 2025] Goose

It seems like Goose and Geese both came out last year.  But in fact Goose has been around since 2014 and Geese since 2016–so it’s taken both of them about ten years to get serious attention.

It’s also funny that the bands have such similar names since they are so very different.  We saw Geese open for Vampire Weekend and they were kind of jammy but were decidedly weird.

Goose on the other hand is a pretty conventional jam band.  Four members (guitar (Rick Mitarotonda), bass (Trevor Weeks), keys (Peter Anspach–since 2017), drums (Cotter Ellis-since 2024)

I haven’t been going to very many Free at Noons lately.  It is such a hassle especially for a 30 minute show.  On the other hand it’s an opportunity to see a band (sometimes a really big band) in a small, intimate setting.  Goose, for instance, has sold out Madison Square Garden and is about to play the Mann Center.  I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted to see them, and yet this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Especially since my office was closed for air conditioning work.

So I headed into Philly.  I thought that I was pretty early, but I mistimed an earlier errand and was actually running kind of late by the time I got there.  It was about a thousand degrees out and when I couldn’t get any of the street parking spots, I had to go to the garage.  By the time I hobbled up to the door I saw that the line was all the way down the block.  I sighed and started to head to the back of the line when a very kind woman asked if I wanted to cut the line.  I was very grateful.  And it also meant I could get reasonably close (really, not close at all, but at least there were people behind me).

So I knew one Goose song from the radio and before this Free at Noon, I listened to most of the MSG show (FOUR HOURS!).  So I knew what to expect, and so did the sold out packed crowd of mostly huge fans.

I found a decent spot where I could see pretty well and soon enough Mike V came out to introduce the band.

They started with Mitarotonda playing a funky guitar riff and soon the whole band was joining in on Thatch.  I gotta say they reminded me a lot of Phish.  Peter Anspach (the smilingest, happiest musician this side of Karina Ryman) has a lot of sounds at his disposal, but there was a mega Phish vibe coming from him–including a piano solo.

This was my second Free at Noon with a jamming band (Garcia Peoples were a ton of fun, too).  About half way through the 7 minute song I thought, wow this song is pretty long.  Are they only going to play 4 songs?

When the jam ended, everyone shouted Goooooose, which always makes me laugh when it sounds like booing.

Up next was Your Direction, which I knew from the radio.  It’s super catchy.  And they stretched it out for over 7 minutes.   They started playing the next song and it sounded really familiar.  And after a verse, I realized it was I Would Die 4 U, by Prince.  It sounded like the song, but not like Prince at all.  Even this song was stretched to nearly seven minutes with some tasteful soloing.

Typically, at a Free at Noon, a DJ comes out after fifteen minutes to introduce the band or whatever.  But that didn’t happen.  It’s possible they announced on air, but didn’t come into the venue.  Also, a typical Free at Noon runs about 30 minutes, but after this song, 28 minutes had elapsed and there was no sign of them stopping.

Goose released an album the day before this show (their second this year) and they proceeded to play a few songs from it.  Royal had a softer sound and I guess they remind me of someone like Jackson Browne.  I enjoyed the time signature changes in this one.  They followed this new song with another one (this song was only 4 minutes).

After this they played a riff and the guy next to me said, oh, of course.  It was Hungersite from their 2022 album, and a song I gather they play a lot.  It ran over ten minutes.  At this point there had been no sign of any DJs or anything, so who knew how long they were going to play.

Give it Time (from the album that came out earlier this year) is a slow, uplifting song that the whole room sang along to.  The song built nicely and they jammed it for about 8 minutes and I was sure that that as the end of the set.   But they weren’t done yet!  Although they did admit they had only one more song

They ended the set with one more brand new song.  This one had serious Phish vibes and I loved the one-two-three sections during the chorus.

I really enjoyed this set a lot.  And I’m super glad I got to see them here.  I wouldn’t have enjoyed a big venue anywhere near as much.  And it also told me that I don’t really need to see them again.  It was great and I enjoyed it, but it scratched my itch perfectly.

You can hear the whole set from their bandcamp page and if you buy it, the money goes to WXPN, which is pretty cool.

Thatch 06:59 ≡
Your Direction 07:36 ≡
I Would Die 4 U 06:56 (Prince cover)
Royal 06:23 ©
Madalena 04:06 ©
Hungersite 10:04 ♦
Give It Time 08:22 ≡
Rockdale 07:42 ©

© Chain yer Dragon (2025)
≡ Everything Must Go (2025)
♦ Dripfield (2022)