Show Review - Goose 8/21/26 Bend, OR

Goose tour continued last night with their first two-night stand of the West Coast leg, returning to the beautiful Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend. With Greensky Bluegrass on hand to open things up once again, the band delved deep into improvisation throughout the show – including a surprising extended “Flodown” and a deep, three-song second set.

Greensky’s solid opening set was augmented by some collaboration this time, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda joining the band to add some of his signature flavour to their original tune “Whatchoo Need.” Drummer Cotter Ellis also joined in for the song’s opening vibraslap hit, and was proclaimed “the best vibraslap player in Goose” afterward.

Goose took the stage with a quick jump through “MEDIA,” the always-reliable punch of energy to get the crowd and band rolling. “Hot Love & The Lazy Poet” was tapped next to warm up the improvisational jets, Mitarotonda leading the band through some nimble play on a catchy progression.

Stepping right into “Dustin Hoffman” without missing a beat, bassist Trevor Weekz dug in on the funky low end as Mitarotonda swirled around the intro on some cool looping work. Grooving through the usual jam, Ellis patiently sat in the driving groove as some saucy guitar and clav worked overtop.

After the typical 2026 stop-hit conclusion to “Dustin,” Goose welcomed Greensky members Paul Hoffman and Anders Beck to the stage to lend their talents to “Atlantic City.” Always such a great choice for Mitarotonda’s voice, Hoffman added some solid harmonies and a nice mandolin solo to the song before some cool back and forth between guitar and Beck’s dobro.

Anspach led the band through “The Whales” as the sun poked through the clouds, his high-energy tune getting its first play since London in May. Next up was a debut cover of Punch Brothers’ “My Oh My,” instantly a great addition to the catalog – though I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Eggy has also been doing great versions of this track for a few years now.

Entering a nice and atmospheric zone reminiscent of the earlier “Dustin Hoffman” peak, Mitarotonda soared through a solo before the band cooled things off with a run through “Madalena.”

With the opening drumbeat of “Flodown,” it seemed as though we were in for the usual upbeat set-closing version – but the band had other ideas and departed into what is likely the best version of the song played to date.

After a few minutes of standard intro, the band skipped the easy pivot into the song proper and dialled back the intensity into some light, major-key play. Weekz kept up some rapid-fire play as things cooled off into a moodier zone. Mitarotonda utilized delay to fill the space as the jam headed in a darker direction, Ellis coming in strong with some big tom-centric moves and then a driving beat.

Continuing to get louder and more forceful, Mitarotonda augmented his tone and led the band into a three-note progression, everyone following suit as the atypical jam headed through an ultra-hot peak before dropping back into “Flodown” proper, concluding the first set on a high note.

Returning from the break with the “Dripfield” we all could feel coming, the improv tone was quickly set with a laid-back entry into an open groove. Mitarotonda and Anspach swirled on their duelling guitars, beginning a simmering build within the song proper.

While Mitarotonda moved into some heavy lead work, Anspach colored with some more atmospheric play to buoy things. Driving through a forceful peak as is typical of “Drip,” the band settled into a chilled-out groove on the other side that immediately began to telegraph the incoming “Good2B” segue.

The band wasn’t ready for it yet, however, and kept the melodic and atmospheric style of jamming up. Similar to the last version at SPAC, Mitarotonda vocalized along to his melodies in the open space, adding a cool extra layer to the jam. Lifting up from there a little, Anspach hit into some marimba piano that hinted distinctly at “One In, One Out” before Mitarotonda executed the segue into “Good2B” that had been hanging for quite a while.

In a similar fashion to the linear build of the “Dripfield,” Goose hung back to start the jam and little by little moved from the usual open funk groove of “Good2B” into an amazing, blissful space. Mitarotonda in particular utilized an earworm riff that became the basis for the major-key build, really showing off his prowess at melodic phrasing.

A massive and joyous peak ensued as the crowd’s energy matched the band’s, Mitarotonda returning to the main “Good2B” lick easily – but in a huge way rather than settling back into the song proper. These last few minutes of the jam are serious must-hear music, and is really a great example of Goose’s ability to turn a singular musical idea into an amazing long-form exploration.

“Arrow” was tapped to wrap the set in lieu of any sort of cool-down, going straight for insane energy as Mitarotonda and Ellis played off each other through tension-build after tension-build, going around for another turn in the dark just when you thought the final peak had been reached.

Encoring with “Arcadia,” the quartet concluded the night with yet another big peak, wrapping the Friday show with big energy on one of their most classic songs.

Goose returns to Hayden Homes Amphitheater tonight for their second of two shows, this time with Buffalo Traffic Jam opening. Tune in live exclusively with a nugs subscription to see what they have in store.

Join us live at 4PM ET this afternoon to recap the show live on Always Almost There!