The acoustic Goose offshoot Orebolo (“Acoustagoose” as my 10 year old daughter calls them) returned to Colorado this past weekend for three nights at two beautiful venues. The first night’s festivities took place at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, while the second two nights of the run were held in the old barn at Chautauqua Park in Boulder.
Phil Lesh and his ever present “Friends” set up shop at the Mission Ballroom last weekend and this time around he invited Grahame Lesh on guitar and John Molo on drums, Rick Mitarotonda of Goose, Jason Crosby on keyboards and violin, and the Trey Anastasio Band horns, Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick, and James Casey.
Orebolo, the acoustic offshoot of the wildly popular jamband Goose, set up shop at the Boulder Theater last Wednesday and left the capacity crowd in awe. Featuring Rick Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach on guitars and Jeff Arevalo on stand-up bass, the trio presented stripped down versions of Goose songs with a focus on intricate guitar interplay between the two stellar players. The crowd was full of rabid fans, with the line forming hours before the doors opened.
True to their word, over the course of three hours, the band played songs from no less than 15 albums dating all the way back to their 2012 debut 12 Bar Bruise with well over half the material having been released before the pandemic. It was truly an incredible show and one that cemented this band’s place on the Red Rocks schedule for years to come I would imagine
It’s been a rainy summer in the mountains this year, there’s no doubt about that. Locals will tell you that it’s great for the fire situation (and they are not wrong) but it was a little rough on Tuesday night when Goose steered their meteoric rise toward the high country for a stop at the wildly beautiful Dillon Amphitheater.
Goose made their triumphant return to Denver with a two night stand at the Mission Ballroom this past Sunday and Monday. While these are tough nights for shows, the incredible momentum this band has propelled each night to a sell-out. While there are some who question Goose’s staying power as a premiere band on the scene, these two shows did a lot to shut those folks up.
One of the big stories of the year in the jamband world has been Connecticut’s Goose. Simply put, the band is on a tear and are drawing sold-out crowds across the country. Is the hype justified?