Goose wrapped their four-night Colorado run this past Sunday night following shows in Fort Collins, Denver and Steamboat Springs. The Norwalk, CT-based rock outfit delivered a combination of fan-favorites and fun covers throughout their weekend run. Not only did Goose offer up four solid nights of tight jams, but the shows also featured an engagement, a birthday celebration, and a travel mishap with a happy ending to keep their Colorado run more than interesting.

Night one of the Colorado run began at Fort Collins’ Aggie Theatre on Thursday. The talented foursome comprised of Rick Mitarotonda (vocals/guitar), Ben Atkind (drums), Trevor Weeks (bass), and Peter Anspach (guitar/keys) began set one with a rendition of John Philips’ “Me and My Uncle”, followed by “Lead The Way” from their Moon Cabin album. The set continued with new singles “Time to Flee” and “All I Need”, both of which were released earlier this year. The crowd was grooving as Anspach, otherwise known as “Handini,” brought the band into a stirring cover of the Bruce Hornsby song, “The Way It Is”. Following the Hornsby throwback tune, things got romantic as a fan was handed the mic and he purposed to his girlfriend. The amped-up audience cheered fervently as she accepted the proposal. Set one wrapped with one of the band’s most loved songs, “So Ready.”

After a short set-break, Goose returned to the stage and opened the second half of the show with the funk-infused “Jive I”. A highlight of the set came next in the form of a fantastic cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes”. The poetic and emotive original, “Into The Myst” came next, followed by another song from Moon Cabin in “Turned Clouds”. Goose closed out the set with their original “Tumble” which segued into Kenny Loggins’ “Make The Move” and back into “Tumble” before they eventually jammed their way into Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island”. The set came to an end after the music returned to “Tumble”, followed by a high-energy encore cover of “Disco Inferno” with teases of Goose’s own “Hot Tea” woven throughout.

Related: Goose Announces Extensive 2020 Tour Including West Coast Run With Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

Night two of the Colorado run saw the band travel to Denver fo a sold-out performance at Cervantes’ Other Side. The first half of the band’s show began with a Goose original, “Madhuvan”, followed by a cover of Spoon’s “Inside Out”. The jam-packed venue erupted with cheers when the band then segued into a groovy “Creatures” which jammed into a fun cover of the oldie “Shama Lama Ding Dong,” by Otis Day & The Knights. Set one finished out strong with “Jive II” and a dance-inspiring “Hot Tea”.

Set two kicked off with a jammed out “Yeti” and a crowd-sung “Happy Birthday” in celebration of Handini’s 27th birthday at midnight. Goose then played a cover of Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”, which triggered a full venue sing-along. Up next could have been the highlight of the second set, as Goose took the music into a captivating, slowed down version of “So Ready”, which is also referred to as “Slow Ready”. “Drive” came next, a song that debuted earlier in 2019, followed by a cover of “Ghostbusters”, which the band jammed out to close the set. The Denver audience was then treated to a two-song encore featuring “Echo Of A Rose” and a wildly-fun cover of The Merry Men’s “Hot Hot Hot”.

The Colorado run continued the next night with yet another sold-out show at Old Town Pub in Steamboat Springs, a little mountain town nestled in the northern part of the state. As the band came on stage, the crowd began singing “Happy Birthday” to a humbled and grateful Anspach. The celebratory birthday set opened with “Flodown” and “Doc Brown”, followed by a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River”. The fan-favorite “Wysteria Lane” was up next–a song that debuted in 2017–followed by a high-energy cover of Billy Joel’s “Moving Out”. One of Goose’s more recent singles, “All I Need” served as the set closer.

Set two began with Anspach starting to play the opening tune but his bandmates told him he was playing the wrong song. Looking a little puzzled, the birthday boy was greeted by manager Matt Kolinski and the “Coach” Jon Lombardi with cupcakes and candles on stage. Anspach snagged his cupcake, passed the tray of treats into the crowd and the band started the set with “Elizabeth”. The music segued smoothly into a cover of Sergio Mendes’ “Mas Que Nada”, followed by one of Goose’s most popular tunes in  “Arcadia”.

A cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” came next, which moved right into the band’s most recent release, “Butter Rum”. A beautiful “White Lights” followed to close out the second set, after which, Goose snuck offstage for a quick minute only to return to completely nail a fiery encore of The Band’s “Don’t Do It”.

Goose returned to Old Town Pub on Sunday for yet another sold-out show to close out the Colorado run, where the band opened the evening with a heartfelt cover of Wood Brothers’ “Atlas” and a rendition of the Wes Montgomery song, “Switchin”. The band then played three originals, “Tumble”, “Western Sun”, and “Time To Flee”. Fans got a special treat when lighting director Andrew Goedde sat in on a cover of Paul Simon’s “Me & Julio Down By The School Yard”, showcasing his mad whistling skills. Cheers from the crowd ensued and the band exited for a short set break.

Set two kicked off with “Doobie Song”, which slid right into “Drive” which featured a special appearance by Lombardi on the rain stick. The band then played a cover of Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” which prompted yet another fired-up crowd sing-along.

Next came something special, as Anspach told a story about what could have been a disastrous situation that occurred earlier that day. During a visit to Steamboat’s famous Strawberry Park Hot Springs, the vehicle got stuck in the snow and could have caused him to miss the gig. Luckily, a passing vehicle of Goose fans stopped and saved the day. The group of fans requested that the band play Michelle Branch’s “Everywhere”, marking the second time Goose had ever played the tune.

The set continued with Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven”, into “2001”. The band then did an incredible cover of Widespread Panic’s “Ain’t Life Grand” and rocked it straight through curfew, wrapping the night up with The Isley Brothers tune “Shout” in which the band, crew, and audience got all the way down to the ground whispering along with the song, and rising back up in unison as the song directs.

Beyond the emotionally charged songwriting, talented, and poised musicianship, Goose also conveys contagious, positive energy which is undoubtedly contributing to their incredible success. One note to take away from the weekend Colorado run is the lengths that fans went to in order to attend. There were folks who flew in from Miami, FL while some drove from Salt Lake City, UT or Seattle, WA, and several other places across the country. There is strong camaraderie amongst the band, the crew, and their fans, who make it clear why “Team Goose” is currently leading the forefront of the jam scene.

Selling out shows left and right in one thing, but the band will no doubt continue to grow and share their positivity with the world in months to come.

Head to Goose’s website for the full listing of upcoming tour dates and ticket info.

Scroll down for a gallery of photos from throughout the weekend, courtesy of photographers Chris Klein and Jason Myers.

Setlist: Goose | Aggie Theatre | Fort Collins, CO | 12/5/2019

Set One: Me & My Uncle {1}, Lead The Way, Time To Flee, All I Need {2}, The Way It Is {3}, So Ready

Set Two: Jive I > Weird Fishes {4} > Into The Myst, Turned Clouds, Tumble > Make The Move {5} > Tumble > Cantaloupe Island {6} > Tumble

Encore: Disco Inferno {7}

Notes:
{1} John Phillips cover
{2} Slow Version of AIN.
{3} Bruce Hornsby cover, After the song Handini passed the mic to a guy in the crowd who then purposed to his girlfriend, she said yes.
{4} Radio Head cover, LTP (2.8.18)
{5} Kenny Loggins cover
{6} Herbie Hancock cover, LTP (2.11.18)
{7} Disco Inferno, Stage Plot/Fire vocal jam, Hot Tea Teases.

View 12/5/19 Setlist

Setlist: Goose | Cervantes’ Other Side | Denver, CO | 12/6/2019

Set One: Madhuvan, Inside Out {1} > Creatures > Shama Lama Dong Dong {2}, Jive II, Hot tea

Set Two: Yeti {3} > Pumped Up Kicks {4}, Slow Ready {5}, Drive {6} > Ghostbusters {7}

Encore: Echo of a Rose > Hot Hot Hot {8}

Coach’s Notes:
{1} Spoon cover
{2} Otis Day & The Knights cover
{3} The crowd started to sing happy birthday to Handini, Spuds joined in over the mic, he turned 27 at midnight
{4} Foster The People cover
{5} Slow version of So Ready
{6} Handini played “charge” before the song
{7} Run DMC cover, ‘Stage Plot’ jam
{8} The Merry Men cover

View 12/6/19 Setlist

Setlist: Goose | Old Town Pub | Steamboat Springs, CO | 12/7/2019

Set One: Flopener {1}, Doc Brown, Green River {2}, Wysteria, Moving Out {3}, All I Need

Set Two: Elizabeth > Mas Que Nada {5}, Arcadia, I Wish {6} > Butter Rum, White Lights

Encore: Don’t Do It {7}

Coach’s Notes:
{1} Flodown opener, as the band walked on stage the crowd sang happy birthday to Peter
{2} Creedence Clearwater Revival cover
{3} Billy Joel cover
{5} Sérgio Mendes cover
{6} Stevie Wonder cover
{7} The Band cover

View 12/7/19 Setlist

Setlist: Goose | Old Town Pub | Steamboat Springs, CO | 12/8/2019

Set One: Atlas {1}, Switchin’ {2}, Tumble, Western Sun, Time to Flee, Me & Julio Down By The School Yard {3}

Set Two: Doobie Song > Drive {4} > Danger Zone{5}, Everywhere {6}, Jive Lee, A Fifth of Beethoven {7} > 2001 {8} > Ain’t Life Grand {9} > Shout {10}

Coach’s Notes:
{1} Wood Brothers cover
{2} Wes Montgomery cover
{3} Paul Simon cover, Andrew Goedde whistling.
{4} I.U.B. Jam, Jon L. on rain stick.
{5} Kenny Loggins cover
{6} Mitchell Branch cover
{7} Walter Murphy cover
{8} Richard Strauss cover
{9} Widespread Panic cover
{10} The Isley Brother cover, time was running out so the band played straight through until curfew

View 12/8/19 Setlist