Goose opened the West Coast portion of its 2023 spring tour on Saturday with the first half of a two-night stop at Seattle, WA’s Paramount Theatre. While the band ultimately presented the audience with a ripping show, the event was initially plagued by technical issues of paramount proportions.

The band took the stage just before 8:00 p.m., all in tank tops and sleeveless shirts—in keeping with the theme that the band had posted the day before on its various social media outlets, “Sleeveless in Seattle.”

 

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Not long after the band took the stage, it became clear that none of the vocal mics were working. As the band and audience waited for the issues to be sorted out, percussionist Jeff Arevalo and band marketing director Naveed Quarterman engaged in an entertaining push-up contest. It soon appeared that the sound issues had been resolved, so the band got started on an opening cover of Kenny Loggins hit “Danger Zone”, which had not been played since the summer of 2021. Next up was a fiery version of “Animal” that had the entire audience up and grooving. New Rick Mitarotonda tune “Lead Up” followed, but only a minute or so into the song, the audio issues seemed to return. Rick’s vocal mic stopped working and the rest of the mix began to crackle through the house P.A. was crackly. The band aborted the tune, and once again both band and audience waited patiently while the sound issues were sorted out.

After several minutes, the band launched into a re-do of “Lead Up”, then moved along into “Flodown”. While the sound was largely fine for these two songs, some static from the P.A. and periodic cutting-out of the vocal mics still plagued the show. A decision was made to cut the first set here and take a break to see whether the technical issues could be sorted out. In genuine, thoughful fashion, keyboardist/guitarist Peter Anspach jumped down from the stage and walked the rail issuing personal apologies to fans for the technical issues and thanking them for coming out to the show.

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During the break, several announcements were made apologizing for the technical problems and letting the audience know that there was a chance that the remainder show might have to be canceled and replaced with a “make-up show.” That contingency plan ultimately went unneeded when, after a long break, the band retook the stage and promised to give the audience a blazing second set that would go later into the evening than previously planned.

Goose delivered on that promise with a wild and exploratory second set that opened with a fast, psychedelic version of “Echo of a Rose” featuring Mitarotonda tearing up solo after solo and Anspach briefly playing keyboards with both hands while playing the guitar on the stand next to him with his foot. Next up was Anspach’s fun “Earthling or Alien?” followed by “A Western Sun”. Just as the first set featured a cover that had not been played since 2021, “A Western Sun” segued into a cover of the Santo & Johnny instrumental “Sleepwalk” that similarly had not been played since in two calendar years. Crowd-pleaser “Thatch” followed, and many in the audience could only chuckle when Rick sang “is it a little bit f—ed?,” a reminder of the technical issues occurring earlier in the night.

Goose – “Sleepwalk” (Santo & Johnny) – 4/22/23

[Video: Marc Komito]

The sandwich of “Arrow” into Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s “Hollywood Nights” and back into “Arrow” was followed by the new, funky Peter Aspach tune, “Feel It Now”, to close the set. Once again making good on their promise to give the audience an especially long show, the five band members came back for a two-song encore of “726” into “Dripfield” to round out an eventful night in Seattle.

Goose returns to the Paramount Theatre on Sunday night to round out its two-night “Sleaveless in Seattle” stint. Here’s hoping the show will not only be played without sleeves, but also without the technical issues that plagued night one. For a complete list of upcoming Goose tour dates, head here.

Scroll down to check out the full setlist from night one in Seattle as well as a gallery of photos from the show via David Tracer/Tracer Rock Photography.

Setlist [via elgoose.net]: Goose | Paramount Theatre | Seattle, WA | 4/22/23

Set One: Danger Zone[1], Animal, Lead Up[2], Lead Up, Flodown

Set Two: Echo of a Rose[3], Earthling or Alien?, A Western Sun > Sleepwalk[4], Thatch, Arrow -> Hollywood Nights[5] -> Arrow, Feel It Now

Encore: 726 > Dripfield

Coach’s Notes: [1] Kenny Loggins cover; [2] Aborted due to PA issues; [3] Fast version; [4] Santo & Johnny cover; [5] Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band cover.

Coach’s Corner: The first set was shortened due to PA issues. Danger Zone was played for the first time since June 15, 2021 (147 shows). Sleepwalk was played for the first time since December 31, 2021 (111 shows).