Watch pro-shot video of the Phish guitarist joining the band for “Hungersite” and “Arcadia.”
By Scott Bernstein Jun 26, 2022 • 8:47 am PDT
Goose was joined by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and acclaimed singer-songwriter Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) for portions of their concert at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on Saturday. The quintet brought a two-night stand at the historic venue to a close with a marathon three-set show featuring appearances from two of their musical influences.
Anastasio emerged after “Silver Rising” opened the third set and stuck around for the remainder of the evening. The members of Goose were all smiles and the crowd exploded when the guitarist took the stage last night. Up first for the Trey/Goose summit was a 20-minute version of “Hungersite,” a track featured on the Connecticut-based band’s new album, Dripfield, which came out one day prior. Anastasio sang “Hungersite” with Goose and then dug into a potent solo. The six musicians covered plenty of ground as Trey and Rick Mitarotonda exchanged angular riffs while Peter Anspach made fine use of a baby grand piano. Last night’s “Hungersite” contained a few modulations with Trey in lock step throughout. The song concludes with a fiery peak reminiscent of The Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”
The ensuing “Arcadia” was another lengthy affair and saw Anastasio sing the third verse by his lonesome to the delight of the sold-out audience. Trey also provided harmony vocals on the choruses leading up to an expansive jam. The rhythm section of drummer Ben Atkind, bassist Trevor Weekz and percussionist Jeff Arevalo provided a groovy base for call-and-response from Anastasio and Mitarotonda as Anspach wailed on Clavinet. Trey and Rick displayed impressive interplay as they built upon each other’s melodies. The ensemble eventually made a move towards a transcendent and anthemic blissful improvisation filled with blissful leads courtesy of Mitarotonda and Anastasio while Peter inserted organ blasts. Last night’s “Arcadia” jam concluded with a memorable climax complete with full-tilt fretboard fireworks from both guitarists.
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Anastasio and Goose continued the memorable collaboration with the title track off Dripfield. The third long and well-jammed song in a row began as Rick showed off his stellar vocal skills in leading the group through the composed section of “Dripfield.” Once again, Trey found the perfect spots to fit in accents and harmonized with Mitarotonda’s leads. Anspach also got in on the guitar action and grinned widely as he stepped up to join Anastasio and Mitarotonda mid-stage. The jam was dirtier and distortion-filled than the previous excursions. Anastasio and Mitarotonda dug into one powerful progression after another and eventually the six musicians broke down the beat for an impressive transition into a quick “Loose Ends.”
The beloved “The Empress Of Organos” concluded the third set last night at Radio City. Goose and Anastasio patiently worked through the potent number for 18 minutes with Anspach delivering a stellar piano solo after the pause and clapping towards the start of the song. The ensemble then broke down the groove to near silence for a funky interlude featuring plenty of shredding from Anastasio. Then, Trey and Rick on an ethereal progression they connected built to a rolling boil before taking the jam down to a slow and tasty conclusion ahead of the final chorus. Both Tillman and Anastasio came out with Goose for the celebratory again. Father John Misty took Arevalo’s spot while Jeff played guitar on a cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Tillman, Mitarotonda and Anastasio traded lead vocals duties on the Revolver classic.
Before the collaborative third set and encore, Goose began their Radio City victory lap with an acoustic set. The five-piece worked through “Atlas Dogs” to open and then offered a pair of debuts in Anspach’s “Moonrise” and a take on Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up.” Mitarotonda then led his bandmates on Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” before the group played an unplugged take on live staple “Flodown.” Goose capped the set with a gorgeous version of original “Elmeg The Wise.”
Last night’s second set started with a trip to “Rockdale.” The fan-favorite was expanded for 17 minutes and featured some of the best guest-less improvisation of the night. Next up was the pairing of both “Seekers On The Ridge” parts. Then, Peter fronted an otherworldly “Red Bird” that showed off how the song has been a trusted jam vehicle since its debut in January. From there, Father John Misty took the stage to front Goose on his own “I’m Writing A Novel.” The quintet premiered their take on the song FJM originally released on 2012’s FearFun back in March 2020 and five additional covers came before the band teamed with Tillman for the tune last night. Goose went on to end the second set with an adventurous “Creatures” featuring Mitarotonda’s auto-tuned vocals.
Stream an audience recording taped by Ryan Stearns below:
Goose returns to the stage next weekend for a pair of festival appearances. The band will perform at High Sierra in Quincy, California on Friday before heading to The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Set One (Acoustic): Atlas Dogs, Moonrise*, Wake Up*, Atlantic City, Flodown, Elmeg The Wise
Set Two: Rockdale, Seekers On The Ridge Pt. 1 > Seekers On The Ridge Pt. 2, Red Bird, I’m Writing A Novel**, Creatures
Set Three: Silver Rising, Hungersite^, Arcadia^, Dripfield^ > Loose Ends^, The Empress Of Organos^
Again: Tomorrow Never Knows^^
- * – First Time Played
- ** – w/ Father John Misty
- ^ – w/ Trey Anastasio
- ^^ – w/ Trey Anastasio & Father John Misty