Hear Goose Dust Off Rollicking ‘Rosa Lee McFall’ Cover In Columbus

Goose‘s summer tour stopped in the state of “Showhio” last night for a show at Columbus’ Kemba Live Outdoors. The lengthy two-set affair was highlighted by strong improvisation and a massive bustout of “Rosa Lee McFall” late in the first set.

The night began with the always-welcome “Switchin’,” a Wes Montgomery jazz classic that Goose has become fond of placing in the opener spot. Longtime crew member “Coach” Jon Lombardi was welcomed on stage on rainstick for the ensuing “Honeybee,” a Peter Anspach-penned tune about his mother that suits a warm summer evening perfectly.

A staple of setlists for a number of years, “Honeybee” was played off of its longest show gap to date last night at 29 – this began a trend in the first set where Goose called upon heavy rotation songs that have been left on the shelf for a little while.

“Atlas Dogs” led smoothly into “Jive II,” which saw Anspach and guitarist Rick Mitarotonda take their solo sections with great fervor. The first extended improv of the night seemed to be on the horizon with the beginning of “Time to Flee” (18 show gap, longest in the song’s history), but the band threw a curveball and jumped right into a rollicking “Jive Lee” instead — breaking that song’s longest-ever gap to date with 22 shows.

As the rhythm section held down the groove, Anspach attacked first his Nord Stage keyboard and then his Clavinet. Mitarotonda helped steer the jam into a more major-key direction as the quintet locked in on some great group improv. Quieting into a more contemplative space and departing “Lee” proper for a little while, bassist Trevor Weekz dropped heavy bombs among Mitarotonda’s darting rhythm guitar and Anspach’s insistent piano. A screaming peak and finish to the “Time to Lee” gave way to “The Old Man’s Boat,” another song that fits well on an outdoor summer evening.

While Goose fans are familiar with the textured electric piano jam in “Boat,” last night’s was a unique rendition featuring heavy use of an arpeggiated synthesizer — Anspach has been infusing it in jams so far this tour. The warm tones floated into the air and landed on the beginning of “Hungersite” — the first song played last night that was a repeat from earlier in the tour.

Smashing into its usual driving and fiery jam, the improv gradually transformed into more of a “Flodown” feel as the band seemed to be looking for direction and where to go next. Mitarotonda called into his talkback mic for a segue into “Rosa Lee McFall,” a Monroe Brothers song popularized in the community by the Grateful Dead during their acoustic sets — and on the legendary live album Reckoning. Goose acoustic offshoot Orebolo has performed this song twice, but this was the first rendition by the full band since August 8, 2019 — a gap of 319 shows, marking one of Goose’s largest bustouts to date.

The second set began with “Into the Myst,” its usual dance-y jam being eschewed in favour of a minute of space (punctuated by various samples from percussionist Jeff Arevalo) that led to “Arcadia.” Heading into a crunchy funk zone led by Anspach on clavinet, Goose jammed on a theme that felt almost like The Meters without touching on a specific song. “Arcadia” continues to be one of the band’s most consistent songs, and they brought it to a massive peak before calming things down with “Rosewood Heart.” The centrepiece jam of the night was all about drummer Ben Atkind. With Anspach on bright piano and vibraphone, the drummer laid into his toms with great fervor throughout the 19-minute excursion.

Gently fading into space, “Dripfield” was called upon next and felt MUCH longer than its relatively compact 15 minutes. Grateful Dead influences were in the air last night as Anspach and Mitarotonda dueled on the melody from “Arkansas Traveler,” a traditional folk song covered by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Anspach was out front on keys throughout the latter portion of the “Drip” jam, once again bringing back some arpeggiator as it bled seamlessly into the beginning of dance party “Slow Ready” to close the second set.

A succinct and fiery “Tumble” encore left many in the Columbus crowd feeling overjoyed at the lengthy and jam-packed show they had just witnessed. With a massive bustouts and the returns of many beloved songs after longer-than-average gaps, it was another successful visit to “Showhio” for Goose.

Summer tour continues this weekend with performances at The Peach Music Festival and Resonance Music & Arts Festival before the quintet heads to the east coast early next week. Stream all the headlining shows for free and Peach sets as a nugs.net subscriber.

Official Audio

Setlist (via El Göose.net)

Set One: Switchin'[1], Honeybee[2], Atlas Dogs, Jive II > Time to Flee > Jive Lee, The Old Man’s Boat, Hungersite[3] -> Rosa Lee McFall[4]

Set Two: Into The Myst[5] > Arcadia, Rosewood Heart -> Dripfield[6] > Slow Ready

Encore: Tumble

Coach’s Notes:

• [1] Wes Montgomery.
• [2] With Coach on rainstick.
• [3] With Flodown jam.
• [4] Monroe Brothers.
• [5] Unfinished.
• [6] With Arkansas Traveler teases from Rick and Peter.

Coach’s Corner: Rosa Lee McFall was played for the first time since August 8, 2019 (319 shows).