Legend Valley, a 230-acre live music venue and campground in Thornville, OH, is quickly becoming home away from home for Goose, the indie-groove-quintet-that-isn’t-a-jam-band-that-is-most-definitely-a-jam-band from Wilton, CT. While the internet is all abuzz trying to classify one of America’s hottest musical acts and most engaging success stories, Goose is busy being Goose: a band firing on all cylinders and pushing the envelope of creativity on all fronts, from the studio to the live stage, with a new album, Dripfield, due in just two weeks and its eponymous tour in full swing.
As Peter Anspach shared in an April interview with Live For Live Music, “Legend Valley just brings out the ultimate Goose-iness [laughs]. I don’t know what that is exactly, but it’s the best way I can describe it. It feels like a very large playground and the vibe there feels like summer camp. It’s just a big open field that’s removed from the road. There’s a pool backstage and big dinosaurs. It’s just got a serious vibe to it and I feel like every time we played there in the past, there’s always some special and crazy kind of energy that happens so I would look out for that one.”
Heeding the multi-instrumentalist’s advice, fans from all over the country settled into the venue formerly known as Buckeye Lake Music Center, where the avian quintet has been building a history since a storied late-night set at Resonance Music & Arts Festival in 2018. Goose—visiting for its sixth and seventh shows across the span of five separate visits to the storied venue–has made a home at Legend Valley, and with onsite camping adjacent to the stage area, it’s no surprise that fans feel just as much at home here. You couldn’t help but feel that vibe as you entered the gates, walking in the shadow of dinosaurs both tangible and perceived.
Giving the gaggle a chance to settle in and make camp, Goose took the stage well after dark, level setting the Midwestern vibe with a little “California Magic” as the winter 2022 debut made its first appearance in a show-opening slot. The band then offered the first of the evening’s two song debuts, the Anspach-penned and sung “Butterflies”, with bright vocals that matched lighting director Andrew Goedde’s lavender color palette but belied bassist Trevor Weekz’s haunting bass line. The song recently had its coming out party with the reemergence of Anspach’s high school band, Great Blue, this past April between Goose tours.
Goose – “California Magic” [Pro-Shot] – 6/10/22
The band recognized the metaphorical dinosaurs on the grounds where Jerry Garcia once stood with a cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”, a song that up until that moment had been on the top of my most commonly played but never seen show stats. Goose took ownership of the well-known tune around the eight minute mark as Peter pounded his Vintage Vibe keyboard and the band found its footing behind him. Ten minutes later, nary a soul would be able to recall that this improvisational masterpiece was still “Half-Step” as neon light bars popped off behind the band and guitarist Rich Mitarotonda found peak after improvisational peak in this easy jam-of-the-year contender.
The seductive low end and composed, multi-part structure of “The Old Man’s Boat” came next before segueing into “Creatures”. When a band’s catalog lends itself to live interpretation, there is a natural tendency—a desire, even—to compare live renditions and crown one as the “best ever.” Is every “Creatures” the best one ever? Of course not. But it sure feels like that in the moment, and this one had me reaching for the blue ribbon.
Oh this moment, is the only thing you know.
Twenty-plus minutes later, Goose found another seamless transition, this one locating the evening’s second debut as Rick sang “Turbulence & The Night Rays”, a Vasudo song that was last played by Goose’ predecessor in 2012. No doubt buoyed by the palpable love and mutual respect connecting the Goose with its gaggle, the band had both the courage to debut this song out of a transition and the aptitude to deliver it with set-closing ferocity, a fact not at all lost on any of those in attendance.
After a well-deserved rest during which many recharged in the comfort of their camps, Goose returned with a 35-minute set opening “All I Need” that again begged the “best ever” argument. Audio technician Sam Bardani had the sound dialed from the opening notes, but the teeth-rattling bass that fell upon Legend Valley became emblematic of what was to be a much darker second set as Weekz and drummer Ben Atkind asserted themselves in the mix and Anspach got weird on the synth. As “All I Need” blew through the twenty-minute mark and settled into its third (and fourth) jam section, Goose seemed to render “jam band?” question unnecessary—classify them whoever you will, but make sure you call these prodigious young improvisers one of America’s hottest young bands.
The Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin” followed for the sixth time since its debut in Brooklyn, NY on 1/25/20, the anthemic rock and roll powerhouse succeeding as always in both encapsulating the empathetic spirit in the air and circling Rick’s extraordinary vocals and guitar tone in red pen.
“Red Bird” was next, Goedde’s color wheel appropriately falling in line as Weekz and Bardani continued to assault fans’ molecular structures with perfectly dialed bass bombs. Without pause, the “Spirit Of The Dark Horse” emerged from the shadows. Driven by Ben’s beats, the song’s telling title tempered some lighter play on the keys from Anspach. The soaring instrumental “Dragonfly”, from Goose’s 2021 Ted Tapes collection, wrapped up a flawless show as Mitarotonda’s fingers dexterously flew around his fretboard.
“We really do love this place. We love you guys,” said Anspach as the band returned for a “Jive II” encore, completing the missing piece of the “Jive” trio that started two days earlier in Buffalo.
All told, Goose made good on Anspach’s promise, treating Legend Valley to a nearly three-hour show with a setlist that included two debuts, choice covers, and an instant-classic, 35-minute “All I Need”. Without question, this was Goose’s best show since the last show until the next show.
Goose returns for more “ultimate Goose-iness” at Legend Valley tonight, Sunday, June 11th. For a full list of dates on the Dripfield tour including upcoming stops at Bonnaroo, Radio City Music Hall, The Peach Music Festival, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre, click here.
Check out a gallery of photos from the show below via Daniel Ojeda.
Setlist: Goose | Legend Valley |Thornville, OH | 6/10/22
Set One: California Magic, Butterflies {1}, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo {2}, The Old Man’s Boat > Creatures > Turbulence & The Night Rays {3}
Set Two: All I Need > Nights in White Satin {4}, Red Bird > Spirit Of The Dark Horse > Dragonfly
Encore: Jive II
{1} FTP, new tune written by Peter
{2} The Grateful Dead
{3} FTP as Goose, LTP as Vasudo 2012
{4} The Moody Blues
