With two down and three to go in a five-night stand at The Capitol Theatre, Goose ventured into the uncharted territory of the band’s first-ever run of longer than two nights pledging “Things are going to get weird.” Even though Jimmy Fallon was on hand to grab headlines and help the band deliver on that promise, the central theme of these five nights continues to be Goose’s music and live production value.

Whereas night one seemed to be centered around deep improvisation and night two was a banger with a higher volume of standard-play length songs, night three was a high-energy affair with a thoughtful mix of the two. The first set featured a song-heavy list of the band’s newest material while, by contrast, the second was highlighted by a nearly 20-minute “Creatures”, not to mention a ridiculous and elusive take on Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”.

The debut of “Lead Up” was the second song debut in as many nights and joined the set-opening “Animal”, “Everything Must Go”, “Turbulence & The Night Rays”, and “Thatch” as five of seven first-set tunes that were unveiled in the last year. “The Whales”, debuted during Bingo Tour in 2020 and included on last year’s Dripfield release, was one of the set’s more seasoned entries behind the well-established “Flodown”.

Goose – “Animal” [Pro-Shot] – 3/10/23

Goose – “Lead Up” – 3/10/23

[Video: Marc Komito]

After highly successful but standard runs through each of the set’s first six songs, newer fan-favorite “Thatch” emerged as an emphatic first set highlight behind the pulsing low end and pounding drums of the band’s rhythm section (Trevor Weeks, bass; Ben Atkind, drums; and Jeffery Arevalo, drums/percussion).

Goose – “Thatch” [Pro-Shot] – 3/10/23

Returning from the break eager to spread their wings and soar, the five members of Goose launched into a mind-bending “Creatures” that also saw multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach test the limits of his wireless guitar with a full stroll through the crowd as he exited stage left, walked through the dense crowd on the floor in front of the soundboard, and return via the stairs up stage right.

Goose’s improvisational exploration would also lead the band through a brief tease of the Grateful Dead’s “The Wheel” before lighting director Andrew Goedde bathed the stage in appropriate light for a 12-minute take on “Red Bird” that felt far longer in the very best way.

The story of the pivotal night, however, was neither the band’s improvisational prowess during “Creatures” nor the shenanigans yet to unfold involving a certain talk show host but rather the jaw-dropping spin that lead guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda and Goose put on Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”. Played for just the fifth time ever and first since the band was joined by Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius last August, the song was stretched from its original five-minute and twenty-seven seconds to well past the 17-minute mark as the band explored explosive new territory certainly never before dreamed of by the song’s original creator.

Goose – “Creatures” [Pro-Shot] – 3/10/23

Giving fans a chance to settle down with another relatively recent and rare catalog addition that debuted in early 2022 after sliding over from Orebolo’s repertoire, Goose then played the beautiful and tender “Arise” for just the fifth time ever before returning the show to its high energy roots with a “Hot Tea” party for the ages that was goaded and churned through a delicious groove by bassist Weekz.

Goose – “Hot Tea” – 3/10/23

[Video: Marc Komito]

Recalling that Jimmy Fallon had saluted fans earlier from Peter Shapiro’s Muppet box, the placement of an extra mic stand on the stage portended shenanigans afoot for the encore. Peter Anspach confirmed the obvious as the band was led back to the stage, “He had us on his show, now he’s here on our show.” Mr. Fallon is the consummate entertainer and the band and audience were no doubt entertained as the Tonight Show host then took lead vocals on a cover of Wilson Pickett by way of Mack Rice‘s “Mustang Sally”.

Though opinions will no doubt vary on every aspect of this performance, every eye in the room was laser-focused on Fallon as he danced and hammed it up with reckless abandon. Fans may take themselves pretty seriously but the band sure knows how to have fun—as did everyone in that room last night—and at the end of the day, not only was this a great ending to a high-energy show but it delivered hand over fist on the band’s promise that things were going to get weird.

Goose w/ Jimmy Fallon – “Mustang Sally” (Mack Rice) [Pro-Shot] – 3/10/23

Goose – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY – 3/10/23 – Full Show

Three totally different shows with different feels, each on its masterpiece but yes still just one part of a greater whole. It’s now three down and two to go as Goose returns Saturday and Sunday to finish out what is shaping as a landmark Capitol Theatre run. Find out how to livestream the shows here. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s full coverage of the Wednesday and Thursday shows. Check out image galleries of Friday’s show from photographers Andrew Blackstein and Chris Quinn.

Setlist: Goose | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 3/10/23

Set One: Animal, Flodown, Everything Must Go, The Whales, Turbulence & The Night Rays, Lead Up[1], Thatch

Set Two: Creatures[2], Red Bird, In Your Eyes[3], Arise, Hot Tea

Encore: Mustang Sally[4]
Soundcheck: Everything Must Go, In Your Eyes (this soundcheck is incomplete)

Coach’s Notes:
[1] FTP.
[2] With Star Wars theme tease from Peter.
[3] Peter Gabriel.
[4] Wilson Pickett. With Jimmy Fallon on vocals.

Coach’s Corner: Mustang Sally was played for the first time since January 26, 2022 (91 shows).