Goose again took the stage at The National to complete a back-to-back in Richmond, VA, their tour bus never budging from its parking space adjacent to the storied Broad Street theater. A majority of the same patrons would return to confront the intricate labyrinth of hallways and hidden spaces that the historic and enigmatic venue continued to reveal on night two, though for present purposes some secrets are better left experienced than told.

The general admission space was dense with bodies and the crowd struggled to find its footing through an opening run of “Butterflies” and “Turbulence & The Night Rays”. An extended “Drive” did its level best to open things up, but the jam failed to turn the room before guitarist Rick Mitarotonda took over to engage the crowd. An earnest cover of Tom Waits’s “Gun Street Girl” followed before the evening’s real storyline began to unfold.

Goose – “Butterfies” [Pro-Shot] – 9/30/22

Lighting director Andrew Goedde’s swirling rainbows ushered in an ever-vibrant “Butter Rum”, succeeding where its predecessors failed as tropical dance and toothy smiles broke open a room that was otherwise tight, both literally and figuratively. If one were to examine jam vehicles that really stand out time and again, they might notice that when multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach grabs his shell pink antique Suhr Classic guitar, turning Goose into a two-guitar band, sparks really begin to fly. Such was the case when a typically excellent “Madhuvan”—an easy top-five Goose song—was tapped to close the set. With early set memories firmly in the rearview mirror, the final stretch was all it took to send at least one attendee running for a dry change of clothes during intermission.

You say it looks like rain today, but we say, Oh, what a day to be livin’.

After a day of nasty rain associated with Hurricane Ian, the lyrically appropriate “Empress Of Organos” bridged the intermission with a second consecutive top-five song, whose lyrics told the only storyline that fans would remember from that wet Virginia day. The night’s longest jam clocked in just shy of 24 minutes, running the gamut from patient exploration to explosive celebration. A third consecutive top-five—there are more than five, for the record—came by way of “Borne”, a straightforward banger that begat WNRN photographer Jody Carbone’s unsolicited comment, “I’m 60 years old. This is the best band to come around since Talking Heads.” I speak from personal experience when I say he’s not the first and likely won’t be the last to speak boldly of the can’t-stop-won’t-stop rising phenom that is Goose.

Related: Goose Visits “Spain”, Opens Fall Tour At The National In Richmond [Photos/Videos/Audio] 

“Hungersite”, the second consecutive tune from Dripfield and the fourth consecutive top-five song followed. Mitarotonda was flying again, primal and fierce on lead guitar as he alone became the headline on a set already heading straight for the record books. After a seamless transition into a cover of Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, the band rode one of the most successful singles of the 2000s to improvisational heights that the mononymous Princess of Pop (or the song’s actual writers, Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis) definitely couldn’t have conjured in her wildest dreams.

Rick utilized auto-tuned vocals to great effect (haters gonna hate), before the jam turned savage, then dark, and then back again while bearing little to no resemblance to the number one single from which it came. To revisit the age-old “Is Goose a jam band?” argument, when you can’t remember what song you’re listening to more often than not, then the answer is probably “yes.” To be sure, hasty jam-of-the-year contenders like this are exactly why I Goose.

After walking off stage in a haze of production smoke and reverb, Goose returned under the same cover of darkness, Peter twisting dials on his Moog as he tweaked the soundscapes before the band picked up a “Hot Tea” encore, another top-five entry in an all-timer of a set. An old school “Tea” with a new school vibe, Goose dialed it down to channel the top-down convertible vibes called for by Dripfield producer D. James Goodwin before shifting into high gear once again to bring the show to a breathless close.

Friday’s four-song second set and encore bring to mind a quote now gaining serious legs in Goose lore: “Every show is the best show since the last show until the next show.”

Check out a gallery of photos from Goose at The National in Richmond, VA courtesy of Alexius Lipot and listen to full show audio via Bandcamp in the player below.

Goose tour continues tonight, Saturday, October 1st at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, GA. For tickets and a full list of upcoming shows, visit Goose’s website.

Goose – The National – Richmond, VA – 9/30/22

Setlist: Goose The National | Richmond, VA | 9/30/22

Set 1: Butterflies, Turbulence & The Night Rays, Drive, Gun Street Girl {1}, Butter Rum, Madhuvan

Set 2: The Empress Of Organos, Borne > Hungersite > Can’t Get You Out Of My Head {2}

Encore: Hot Tea

{1} Tom Waits
{2} Kylie Minogue