Trey Anastasio Band and Goose continued to defy expectations on Friday with the joint tour’s second concert, making landfall in Lowell, MA. The show at Tsongas Center featured more cross-pollination between the two acts, with Trey Anastasio and Rick Mitarotonda sharing the spotlight on an acoustic interlude during the encore.
As is custom, Goose opened up Friday’s performance with a jam-heavy set. While the Grateful Dead established the natural order of a fairly straight-ahead first set followed by an improvisationally-focused second, the “TABoose Tour”, as it has been dubbed, challenges that tradition. Instead, Goose threw audiences straight into the deep end of sonic exploration with a lengthy opening “Drive”, which fed into a fast version of “Echo Of A Rose”.
Goose – “Drive” [Pro-Shot] – 11/11/22
With just one set each night, Goose has no time to waste, which ironically forces the band into shelling out a small number of very long songs. The Connecticut quintet struck an idyllic balance with the sing-along “Rockdale” (borrowed from the Vasudo catalog) which opened up into some healthy improv. Up next came a run through the “Same Old Shenanigans” aka “SOS” prior to “Silver Rising”.
While it was announced well in advance that this tour would feature plenty of collaboration, that still didn’t make Trey Anastasio’s appearance during the tail-end of Goose’s set any less special. The Phish guitarist emerged to lend the band a hand on a trip down “Wysteria Lane”, where he was cleared for takeoff as he delivered soaring leads alongside Rick. With time for one more, Rick eeked out the intro to “Arcadia” before Peter Anspach‘s murky clavinet gave the song a proper welcome. The scene no doubt inspired flashbacks to Trey’s first sit-in with Goose not even five months ago at Radio City Music Hall, when the deafening rumors of the guest appearance came true and illuminated the path to the joint tour currently in progress.
As the road crew changed the stage over for the next act, a stylistic change came along with it. While Trey Anastasio stands as a pillar of the modern jam community, his eponymous solo band serves as something of an escape from the improvisation that put Phish at the commercial top of the scene. Encore included, Trey Anastasio Band doubled the number of songs performed by Goose as the band breezed through its own numbers like “Cayman Review” and “Money, Love and Change” alongside crossovers from the Phish catalog like “Ghost” and “Gotta Jibboo”.
In the winddown of Trey’s set, Rick and Peter of Goose returned the favor by jumping in on “Back On The Train”. The chugging composition afforded the opportunity for some back and forth between the two guitarists while Peter made himself comfortable on the clavinet. The musicians then pumped the brakes on the speeding locomotive, giving off an excess of “Steam”. The loping instrumentation was successful in slowing down Rick, whose fiery leads oftentimes keep Goose jams moving at a breakneck pace. Instead, the extended ensemble was able to fully take in the improvisation before breaking for encore.
Only Trey returned to the stage, armed with an acoustic guitar to deliver a sing-along “Theme From the Bottom”. Rick then joined him—also acoustically equipped—for a sentimental take on “Strange Design”. The tender-throated Mitarotonda found his place providing backup vocals to Trey, himself voicing the lead normally sung by Page McConnell. Trey pointed out that both songs debuted 27 years ago at the nearby Lowell Memorial Auditorium on May 16th, 1995 when Phish played a Voters for Choice benefit that saw the debut of six new, original songs. Rick Mitarotonda was four at the time, “So I guess you didn’t make it to the show” Trey quipped.
As the audience dried their eyes from “Strange Design”, both bands came out like it was time for final bows on Saturday Night Live. With Trey and Rick switching back to electric, Peter took his place on keys while Ben Atkind, Jeffrey Arevalo, and Trevor Weekz picked up percussive instruments from Cyro Baptista‘s massive collection. Together, they ended the show with a jubilant command to “Blaze On”, with everyone picking up a toy from Cyro’s treasure chest while the rhythmic pied piper lead them in a walk-off second-line percussion jam.
Trey Anastasio Band, Goose – “Blaze On” [Pro-Shot] – 11/11/22
Check out some fan-shot videos from Goose and Trey Anastasio Band in Lowell, MA via Skelator Revisited as well as full audio of Goose’s set. The tour continues tonight, November 12th, for a sold-out show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. For tickets and the full tour schedule head here. Fans can livestream the entire tour via nugs.
Goose – Tsongas Center – Lowell, MA – 11/11/22
Setlist [via elgoose.net]: Goose | Tsongas Center | Lowell, MA | 11/11/22
Set: Drive -> Echo Of A Rose[1], Rockdale, Same Old Shenanigans, Silver Rising, Wysteria Lane[2] > Arcadia[3]
Coach’s Notes:
[1] Fast version.
[2] With Trey Anastasio on guitar.
[3] With Trey Anastasio on guitar and vocals for the first verse.
Setlist [via phish.net]: Trey Anastasio Band | Tsongas Center | Lowell, MA | 11/11/22
Set: Cayman Review, Camel Walk, Money, Love and Change, Olivia, Ghost, Hey Stranger, Gotta Jibboo, A Life Beyond The Dream, Simple Twist Up Dave, Dark And Down, Back On The Train[1] > Steam[1]
Encore: Theme From the Bottom[2], Strange Design[3], Blaze On[4]
Coach’s Notes:
[1] With Rick on guitar and Peter on keys.
[2] Trey solo acoustic.
[3] Rick and Trey acoustic duet.
[4] With Rick on guitar, Peter on keys, and Spuds, Jeff, and Trevor on percussion. Ended with a full-band drum jam as they walked off stage.
