Blind Melon Guitarist Rogers Stevens Joins Goose For Memorable ‘No Rain’ In Philadelphia

Goose brought their summer tour to The Mann in Philadelphia on Friday for what stood as their bigest headlining show to date for 24 hours. The band was joined by a pair of special guests early in the evening, starting with co-founding Blind Melon guitarist Rogers Stevens.

Stevens emerged after Goose delivered the pairings of originals “The Whales” and “Silver Rising” and “Atlas Dogs” and “Flodown” to start the show at the 14,000-capacity venue. Rogers Stevens then added to a take on Blind Melon’s 1993 smash “No Rain,” a song he co-wrote and contributed to the version released on the band’s 1992 self-titled studio album.

“No Rain” climaxed at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topped the publication’s Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks chart. The video for the song featuring the “Bee Girl” was a staple on MTV for nearly a year. Goose started covering “No Rain” back in 2018 and has played a total of 17 documented versions as per ElGoose.net.

Roger Stevens — who formed Blind Melon with vocalist Shannon Hoon, bassist Brad Smith and drummer Glen Graham in 1990 — focused on the song’s iconic main riff as Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda handled lead vocals with multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach chiming in with harmonies. Stevens expanded upon the riff for tasty solos between verses and underneath the chorus.

The Blind Melon guitarist let it rip one more time following the final “No Rain” chorus. Mitarotonda then got in on the action and unleashed a torrent of powerful riffs. Roger Stevens played rhythm for a few bars before again treating fans to more shredding. “A legend,” Anspach noted as Stevens left the stage.

Watch Goose perform “No Rain” with Blind Melon’s Rogers Stevens below:

Goose wasn’t done with exciting collaborations as Mt. Joy frontman Matt Quinn came out after “No Rain” to help sing original “California Magic.” Quinn and Mitarotonda shared lead vocal duties and traded verses. “California Magic” dates back to March of 2022 and has been a staple of the Goose repertoire ever since. The quintet went sans guests to end Friday’s first set with “A Western Sun” that bled into a +26-minute “Tumble.”

Check out official video of Quinn teaming with Goose on “California Magic”:

The Connecticut-based band delivered a three-song second set for their biggest headlining show to date, a record that was broken the next night at a sold-out Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. “Hungersite,” the title track to Goose’s latest studio album, got the frame underway and spanned over 20 minutes. Goose then took their first cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” since the previous September extremely deep. Anspach led his bandmates through “Red Bird” to close the set before Goose returned to wrap the show with an “Arcadia” encore.

Goose has the next few months off. The next leg of the band’s 2024 tour begins on September 1 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. The venue has an even biggest capacity than The Mann and Forest Hills Stadium, so the concert just might take the title for biggest headlining Goose show yet.

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Setlist (via ElGoose.net)

Set One: The Whales > Silver Rising, Atlas Dogs > Flodown, No Rain[1], California Magic[2], A Western Sun > Tumble

Set Two: Hungersite, In Your Eyes[3] > Red Bird

Encore: Arcadia

Notes:

• [1] With Rogers Stevens (Blind Melon) on guitar.
• [2] With Matt Quinn (Mt. Joy) on vocals.

Show Notes: In Your Eyes was played for the first time since September 22, 2023 (53 shows). This was the band’s biggest headlining show to date.