This was published on Live For Live Music, link below. Or stick around to read the unedited version.
Labeled as “up and coming” and “a band on the rise”, Goose was put on the fast track on the heels of an incendiary and now legendary performance at Peach Fest in mid-2019. Having been courted as the opening band for Dead & Co., Goose rang in 2020 in the grandest fashion possible, playing a pair of opening acts at this year’s Playing In the Sand in Mexico. Bookending the oddest and most difficult year in live music history was Goosemas 7, a live broadcast from a Peter Shapiro promoted rooftop in Rockefeller Center on Twitch’s Relix Channel that drew 60,000 viewers and raised over $45,000 for charity.
TL;DR: No longer up and coming but definitely still on the rise, Goose has arrived.
None but the most ambitious of insiders could have predicted the trajectory of the indie groove act from Wilton, CT, most especially given the circumstances of pandemic ravaged 2020. Live From T’s Living Room, a-Goose-tic streams from the Solarium, Bingo Tour, drive-ins and socially distant pod shows, it can easily be argued that no band has worked harder or done more with less. With brilliant management and creativity for days, Goose turned the worst year on record for the live event industry into their personal showcase, doing the impossible to continue their well deserved and hard earned exponential ascent.
Now that 2020 is nearly in the books, let’s look at Goose’s year in review. After the opening run in Mexico with Dead & Co. on January 17 and 18, Goose then played two sold out shows in New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 24 and 25, their largest headline shows to date at that point in time (with the exception of Goosemas 2019, played in front of 1,000 eager fans at the Wall Street Theatre in their home state of CT the previous month). Goose then migrated West with their alliterative mates Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, opening a slate of thirteen shows in seventeen nights for their avian kin on a tour beginning February 5 in Arizona with stops in CA, NV, OR and WA. As February turned to March, Goose somehow found the time to squeeze in three shows in three days aboard a Rock Legends Cruise before rejoining PPPP for five more shows in seven nights in the Midwest. Their last pre-pandemic show took place in Covington, KY on March 11, a city held closely to their hearts that showed them with unconditional love and unfettered enthusiasm as Goose was first flapping its wings earlier in their career.
Three shows planned for March 12, 13, and 14 were cancelled as Goose was now faced with the never before seen task of navigating a global pandemic and industry-wide live event shutdown. If you think back to early March, it was an uncertain time as fear spread across the US as rapidly as COVID-19. Hugs were the first casualty of the pandemic, elbow taps now the greeting of choice, as uncertainty, doubt, and fear dotted uncharted waters with treacherous whitecaps, especially for those in the entertainment industry. I remember seeing The Brothers at MSG on Tuesday March 10, in a sold out but half empty Madison Square Garden, fully aware that this may be the last live show for a stretch as professional sports leagues, schools, and business shut down one by one over the course of the next week. By Friday March 13, the live event industry, along with the US economy, had come to a screaming halt.
Goose, however, approached the remainder of 2020 like a skilled chess master, every move setting up their next play perfectly. Just four days after its last show in front of a live audience, Goose pulled itself up by its bootstraps and streamed their first ever concert on March 15. Dubbed Live From T’s House, the mellifluous fowl got behind their production team, putting both their humanity on display alongside their musicality. With multiple camera angles, perfect sound, and unique camera cutaways into the pass-through kitchen as Mrs. Coach prepared dinner, the show faded away with Goose sitting around the dining room table enjoying a home-cooked and well-earned post-show meal — vegan, natch.
In partnership with The 11E1even Group’s “Live From Out There”, Goose was one of a handful of bands that pioneered the effort to redefine what live music consumption would look like in pandemic America, playing two more of these full band offerings at six day intervals on March 21 and 27. Even pre-pandemic moves, like the Osiris podcast that saw Rick Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach team up with roommate Jeffrey Arevalo on upright bass for an acoustic set and conversation with Tom Marshall in late January, seemed calculated in hindsight to introduce the now legendary a-GOOSE-tic live streams. These four live sets, spaced roughly three weeks apart from April 5 to May 30, served to not only showcase a new dimension of Rick and Peter but also to usher in the newest member of the flock as the quartet returned as a quintet for a series of five interactive live broadcasts over two weekends at the end of June.
Perhaps the biggest coup in their young history, Bingo Tour was pure theatrical genius. From sound to lights, camera angles to stills, push ups to full band yoga, this was an exercise in creativity, ingenuity, and gumption that brought to bear the full artistic expression of Goose’s incredible team. Playing dynamic setlists chosen by Bingo balls, Goose put their next level musicianship on display, cut of course with a signature dose of “not taking yourself too seriously.” 2020 redefined the live music experience out of necessity and nothing underscores that point like Bingo Tour, an in house production that thrust community building and fan experience to the forefront. As it remains to be seen what of these changes will become permanent, the full scope of Bingo Tour may not be understood until it can be evaluated in a historical context.
A fifth a-Goose-tic stream in mid-July preceded a nine-week stretch that would be Goose’s longest rest of the year before hitting the drive-in circuit for a pair of shows on September 11 and 12 at Yarmouth in Cape Cod, MA. A pair of socially distant shows in the pod format at South Farms in Morris, CT followed on September 16 and September 17. Special guest Dave Grippo of the Giant Country Horns joined the band for another drive-in show in Essex, VT on October 2 before another trio of drive-ins scheduled in a five day span in Thornville, OH, Waynesville, NC, and Frederick, MD on October 15, 17, and 19, respectively. With their production team in full stride, each of these shows was either streamed live or premiered within days with band-hosted watch parties on YouTube and Facebook as Goose continued to expand both its formidable online presence and its fanbase.
Goose’s final in person shows of the year were scheduled for a return to South Farms on October 30 and 31 but winter weather had other plans, delaying the shows until the following weekend, November 6 and 7. Aside from the concert art showing the original dates, no one missed a beat as the band played a pair of epic nights and treated fans to a few of their finest in person shows of the year, the second of which saw the band in the musical costume of 2001 psychological thriller Donnie Darko for their annual Halloween show. An ambitious and successful year that saw Goose break down barriers and play live shows in front of socially distant crowds, the only question that remained was how the band would attack the seventh edition of their annual holiday show, Goosemas.
Enter Peter Shapiro, concert promoter and publisher of Relix Magazine and Twitch Relix channel. “Goose has amazing momentum right now and we are so excited to be working with them on this incredibly special performance at Rockefeller Center– one of the most iconic locations in the world. There isn’t a more epic way to ring in the holidays than with a rock show in the sky.” Set seven stories above Rockerfeller Center with St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the background, Goose took to the stage in front of over 60,000 worldwide viewers for their most unique and ambitious show to date. Dressed in matching red ski suits, the band treated fans to a masterful set of originals, covers, and bustouts that garnered instant show-of-the-year buzz among their faithful gosling.
Watching this band and their crew grow into their success has been the source of untold joy since I first entered their orbit on Halloween 2019. As their lights have filled bigger and bigger rooms, from Mercury Lounge to Rockerfeller Center, I honestly can’t wait to see what Andrew Goedde has in store for historic rooms like The Beacon and Capitol Theatres. Just as Goedde has become an industry leading innovator as lighting director — that laser ceiling at South Farms – what?!?!? — so, too, have Byan Murphy’s video productions become the gold standard in both live streams and video editing. For that matter, shoutouts to Danny McDonald and Marta Goedde for constantly upping their games and giving us a year’s worth of up close and personal looks with their kickass camera work, and to Sam Bardani for constantly tweaking their sound to match their growth curve.
I love guessing where Goose is going to play next as much as I love thinking about what 80s tune may be graced with their overwhelming talent. I love the fact that this quintet, née quartetm, is as finely rehearsed and well tuned as they are willing to veer off course, take chances, and improvise. The confidence that brims from their amps is nearly as admirable as the humanity and approachability that ground them and make us all feel like part of a giant family. And although 2020 is a year that most would agree to soon forget, I can’t help but shake the feeling that it will likewise be looked upon with great favor in Goose’s history books.
All told, 37 shows in front of live audiences including Playing in the Sand, a tour opening for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, a Rock Legends Cruise, and their own headline dates in a variety of formats from bars to music halls to drive-ins and socially distant pod shows. Throw in a Jam in the van, a live Osiris podcast with Tom Marshall that featured the first a-Goose-tic set, 9 full band live streams that include the most innovative concept of all time in Bingo Tour, and 5 a-Goose-tic live streams, and I dare you to find a harder working band in 2020. {Personally speaking, I had the good fortune to have danced 111,210 steps at six of these live shows while writing about every one of them and streaming everything they had to offer — I dare you to find a harder working fan ;)} Having busted their asses with one of the best and most professional teams in the industry behind them, Goose deserves all the accolades and nice things coming their way. Here’s to hoping that 2021 features a robust return to live in person shows as Goose plays larger and larger rooms (theaters? arenas?) that can accomodate their ever-expanding gaggle.
Catch a rebroadcast of Goosemas 7 this Saturday night at 8pm.
Honk!
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