Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY hosts on July 7 2023. Review by Joel Shover Photos by Joel Shover Photography @Joelshoverphotography.
My Friday started with a beautiful drive through western mass into the Berkshires and up along the Hudson River valley to the beautiful world-renowned Saratoga Performing Arts Center at the Saratoga State Park in Saratoga Springs, NY, just to see the hottest band in the land, GOOSE!
GOOSE, hailing from the nutmeg state of Connecticut, are Rick Mitarotonda (vocals, guitar) Peter Anspach (vocals, keys, & guitar) Trevor Weekz (bass) Ben Atkind (drums), and Jeff Arevalo (vocals, percussion, & drums) were about to perform the largest show of their careers!
The speculators speculated that the boys couldn’t pack the house at SPAC but, as you can recall after the shows that I saw at the Met in Philly there was no doubt in my mind that they could pack SPAC for one night! Stay tuned for next summer as I’m sure they can sell out 3 solid nights at SPAC!
For a full gallery of photos check out Joel’s gallery.
The hot sweaty day turned to a rain in the early evening that cleared the skies for all the fans from across the globe to make their way into the venue for the history we were about to witness. What would the setlist be tonight? Would the boys bring all the Jive or Jives? The possibilities were endless as we all discussed each scenario as it would play out as we waited with the rest of the world patiently for the band to take the stage.
When the boys hit that stage, they all had smiles that showed that the moment had finally come! If you haven’t read my previous reports on this totally awesome band then you better get on the train now, I think they just added some cars! Think about this for a second…. there were Goose fans raging on the same lawn that the band members themselves grew up raging on! Talk about coming around full circle!
Goose took every fan inside SPAC, and those watching on couch tour, on a musical mystery journey that had us floating a mile out of our seats with every twist and turn of the bands many tones.
My personal favorite “Silver Rising” opened the show as I snapped photos and jammed out at the same time! It was obvious that band was in solid form and so ready to unleash the raging jams flowing through their veins! Trevor wasted no time letting SPAC know whose house this was tonight as he started dropping bass bombs that I’ll remember till my last breath in life. Could this be what it’s like to be kneeling at an alter? Mitarotonda ensured us all that it was just “California Magic” shredding from the six-string slinger “Animal” with eyes up on the high ground and circling above.
Multi-Instrumentalist Peter Anspach told the story of a “Red Bird” that flew out of a rainstorm with a promise of tomorrow. That promise came sooner, right around the 12-minute mark as Mitarotonda seemed to hit notes that took us to another jam planet. It seemed as if the whole arena was alive as the music rang around in the warm air.
“SOS” was proof we were all jiving in the warm air as the band methodically took us into another 15-minute jam with Atkind on the engine and Arevalo with all the precise little and not so little sounds you hear in every song! These guys were on fire and there was no putting it out as the first set came to a close.
Photo credit Ed Fitzpatrick
Set break hosted the Regular Hot Tea Party up on the lawn under the tent. The Hot Tea party is a Sober meeting spot at every show for those that choose to live a sober life, or those that just want some support and good company. Fans also made their way to the merch booths and grabbed the coveted foil variant Saratoga poster.
Set two was sure be sicker than the first, right? If we had only known! You say it looks like rain, but we say, oh, what a day to be livin’. The boys came out striking with “Empress of Organos”. What a day it is to be living with music this great! The energy in the venue at this point of the night was so amazing that all my words are falling short. Even the band could feel it as they broke out the only cover of the night “Please Forgive Me” by David Gray, as a nod to us fans “Feels like lightning running through my veins, every-time I look at you”
Dictionary
Definitions from Goose isms ·
“thatch”
noun
noun: thatch
- A ballistically bass-bombing-jam-packed adventure of a song that will bring down any roof when played by the band GOOSE!
“Did you change your mind or did it change you?” The jam from that epic “Thatch” ended on a dime to make way for a slow and heartfelt “This old Sea” every note was played perfectly as we took all our burdens and troubles and laid them on thee. This band was epically on fire tonight hitting on all twelve of eight cylinders that I along with many others got lost so lost in the moment and the music.
“Dripfield” was next with more jamming as the band slowly came howling out of their prism.
Tonight’s show will go down in my personal top ten live concerts I’ve seen in my life, and to work it as well was even more special. Thank you to all the fans in the pit for letting me get my pictures, and thank you GOOSE!
Anspach thanked the historic crowd and confirmed that this was GOOSE’s largest show to date! “SPACtory Fiction” was the final song of the evening but talk about raising the bar GOOSE!!
They played their hearts out they played for the crowd, the fan base, they played for us! Tonight, was SPECIAL!
A two-night run in Boston at Live Nation’s Leader Bank Pavilion September 13&14th 2023 and be sure to check out HULAWEEN in Live Oak, FL Oct 26-29th where GOOSE will be headlining the main stage. Be sure to expect a 2/3-night return run at SPAC next summer so start looing for cottages
Go See Live Music……..
Till The Next Show……Joel
Thanks to Youtuber Skelator Revisited for the videos
SETLIST
I.
- Silver Rising
- California Magic
- Animal
- Red Bird
- SOS
II.
- Empress of Organos
7.Please Forgive Me (David Gray Cover) - Thatch
- This Old Sea
- Dripfield
ENCORE: - SPACtory Fiction
For a full gallery of photos check out Joel’s gallery.
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