Goose: Yacht Rock Finally Comes Phishing in Miami

J.J. Colagrande

3 weeks ago

Goose made its long awaited Miami debut at the Fillmore for the first of two shows on Tuesday, October 29th. The Connecticut based band, formed in 2014, are road savages yet they’ve never been to the Magic City.

They did not disappoint. Halloween not yet in the air, only a few costumes, but the sold-out, older, male dominated crowd felt invigorated, excited and the band crushed.

We first heard of Goose in 2021 from friends. The recommendation included a reference: “They are like the next Phish. Trey is a big fan.”

So with that endorsement, we listened and waited for the band to make its way to Miami. They are indeed like Phish, but younger, fresher, tighter, less goofy in many ways. They have a cool look, mod, fresh, straight out of central booking for Stereophonic, one of the best plays we’ve seen in years. We were excited to see Goose in Miami.

Our colleague Dave Rolland interviewed Goose keyboardist Peter Anspach for a preview piece in New Times.

Mr. Anspach spoke of the pending shows in Miami.

“Every show is different. Miami, I’m sure, has its own vibe, and we’ll try to match it. We won’t know until we get there what the room is like. Is the crowd energetic, or are they more relaxed? The Grateful Dead do this; so do Phish. It’s the spirit of the jam band. You’re with the audience, and you collaborate with them.”

Goose in Miami

Goose: not your dad’s jam band yacht rock.

Funky, smooth vocals – when they did have vocals — no Jerry Garcia heroin induced caterwauling.

But Goose is not yacht rock, they’re a jam band.

More the music crescendos, the more intense the musicians become, the more mastery they display on their individual instruments as they try and keep up with the strobing pulsing lights. Which are a show all on their own and timed perfectly with the improvised beats, which seems like a feat considering you never know where the music is going next. One second it’s loud, jamming, intense- only to stop and launch into a cover of Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is” — which we never imagined can go on for so long.

First set lasted 1 and 1/2 hours with only seven songs but they all felt crisp.

They closed first set with “Zalt” — in Miami night one it felt like crescendo musical wizardry. It’s hard to explain — you had to be there.

Some jams, like the second set opener “Pancakes” felt chewy, hard to swallow, descending into the chaos and dissonance that define some Dead and Phish performances — jam went on too goddamn long, 23 minutes, but it got you there at the end.

That’s when it started to feel a tad redundant.

Like having sex with a partner you’ve been with too long.

How do you keep a show exciting when every song is a built like an orgasm?

Goose — somehow — makes it seem easy.

Is one orgasm better than another? You bet!

But it’s all about the “O.” You ever meet an “O” you didn’t like?

Maybe that’s one of the “O”‘s in Goose.

Maybe it lives in the “Goooooooooooosssee” chant that came at the end of every song.

It’s a vibe.

Like Mr. Anspach said in his preview, every show is different.

All the more reason to be there.