Article Contributed by Jake Cudek
Published on 2026-05-23
Captain Mitarotonda | Goose | photos by Jake Cudek
In November of 2025, the east coast force known as Goose announced a short but stout April tour that would have the group hitting 10 cities with 13 shows over 16 days, all of which was enough to have any fan salivating with the choices. Throw in that 5 nights were set in Florida preceding another 2 shows butting up against the first week of JazzFest and the pulse of the faithful flock was buzzing with excitement even before the first notes were even played.
For those looking to make the most of the experience of seeing the band on fire, one of the top choices was their two night stop in The Big Easy. Although Goose is enough of a draw to bring in healthy numbers wherever they perform, the back-to-back Saenger Theatre shows would mark not only the band’s first landing at the legendary venue, but their first performance outside of a festival set in the Pelican State since their two night run at the Joy Theater in 2022, putting tickets into high demand early on. Add in that The Saenger would be the smallest venue of the entire tour and by the time late April arrived, both nights were marked as sold out.
In 1927, The Saenger Theatre opened in the Business District of New Orleans and quickly became known as “The Crown Jewel of Canal Street”. Touting a nearly three million dollar price tag, this epitome of art deco was the premier locale to take in silent movies, vaudeville productions, and live orchestral performances for the arts culture of Louisiana. Passing through its doors, patrons were met with the finest details money had to offer: chandelier-lit ceilings, marble floors, and commanding columns. From a mezzanine overlooking the foyer to carpeted stairways leading to the balcony and hidden arcades, this maze of beauty captured the eye of the beholder and offered wonder and whim at every turn even before entering the inner sanctum of the performance space. Taking inspiration from Italian gardens designed in the Baroque aesthetic, architect Emile Weil’s vision-turned-reality was found throughout every deliberate detail in the heart of the theater, including life sized Greek and Roman statues, terraces and archways, planter boxes filled with greenery, and a ceiling with inset lights that outlined constellations that twinkled like the night’s sky. Since opening day nearly a century ago, this institution of art realized has remained a testament to the importance the city and its people find between performance and culture and with all that history in mind, the band, Goose, certainly did not waste a moment adding to the roster two prolific performances on The Saenger’s legendary stage.
Arriving early on day one, it came as no surprise to see a lone soul sitting out front of the venue a full six hours before doors were even to open. Hitting up this seated gent, “Herb” revealed that he was armed with a general admission balcony ticket and his intent was to get the best seat he could with the lot he was handed. With poster tube in hand, he detailed his patient wait to make sure he did not get shut out on the paper designs that were yet to be disclosed. Honoring the dedication and determination, he was joyously served multiple high fives from passers by as he resumed his sit-in on this sunny mid seventy degree day waiting for the magic to happen.As the day rolled on and the sun continued its creep towards the horizon, the line which began as one man with a seat and a poster plan multiplied exponentially with each passing moment until the corner of Rampart and Canal was a buzz under the marquee light and twilight set in. What was once an empty sidewalk now was a queue of color and conversation that bent off of the main drag and ran down the southeastern wall of the theater, disappearing past the tailend of the band’s tour buses.
With anticipation building from fans waiting to get their ears on the goods of the evening and a quickly approaching door time of half past six, the pleasant and professional staff wearing smiles and good cheer eventually began greeting fans at the front of the line in standard fashion, presenting general information and answering questions like they had done so many times before, welcoming everyone to The Saenger as ambassadors of not only the theater but to NOLA herself.
With doors finally open, the crowd entered with patience and grace and were met with the entry hall that hosted a coat check, a couple of bars, and at the end, the merch table. With its high ceilings and crystal laden lighting, one could hear many remarking on their virgin entrance, commenting on the splendor of the lobby and their anticipation of what was waiting for everyone past the usher attended doors.
Inside the auditorium, the ‘oohs and aaahs’ continued as the carpeted walkways and plush seats comforted those who had been waiting on their feet to get in. As stranger and friend alike connected, the storyline was much the same about how impressive the surroundings were and that everyone felt that something special was in the air, verbally anticipating that the band was going to deliver beyond expectation with this debut performance.
Over the next ninety minutes, the concert space slowly filled with no one feeling any rush to get to their seat, but rather noticeably taking time to converse, drink, and be merry. Even at ten ‘til eight, the octo-hour being the advertised start time, at least a third of the space remained barren. Of course with a curfew and schedule to keep, at ten after eight, the band finally hit the stage to get night one going in all the right ways.
Walking on under purple lights and a room aflurry with activity, the band smiled as whistles, cheers, and the trademarked long “Gooooooooose” calls filled the air. Per the usual, ‘kid of the keys’ and ‘guy of the guitar’ Peter Anspach stepped to his microphone with his grin of purity and took a moment to scan the room, his feelings of everything positive in the world registering blatantly across his face. Breaking the everything but silence in the moment, he interrupted the welcome of the crowd, “Hey, hey New Orleans, how we feelin’? Aw man, this place is beautiful, huh?” The simple statement lit the crowd up even more and capturing the moment like he always does, Anspach lifted his camera and took the group picture before settling in at his bench.
Locked and loaded with a final glance at each other, guitarist Rick Mitarotonda counted off the opener. “Jive II” was the first choice to get this two night stand rolling. With its slinky groove and a sampled “Don’t Choke” that drew a laugh from the band, this marked the first version of the tour as well as the first version since September of 2025. The length was the only thing average about this take, putting everyone in the mood to shake their groove thing hard from the get go. Tight and intentional, this one plodded along patiently, proving early on how comfortable this band is in their skin. Anspach’s clav funk alternating with the organ spin put the multi-instrumentalist at premier for the first solo, stimulating the audience to throw their hands in the air while the captain of the keys got off on his own simultaneous delight, tongue hanging out and all. Hitting the bridge, Mitarotonda shifted from the rock angle into dreamy space and got the room swaying. Trevor Weekz’s nimble bass was coming through clear and danced around the guitarist’s line perfectly. Cotter Ellis’ drum runs popped and glowed with tom rolls and cymbal punch. In a coordinated build, the quartet came together in the end for a notable climax that set the mood for the night.
As the “Jive” fizzled in afterglow, Mitarotonda kept the flow going and moved deliberately into a notably extended version of “Echo of a Rose”. Clocking in at nearly twenty one minutes, this version falls into the seventh longest ever of the one hundred twenty two readings of the song since its debut in 2018. With its reggae bob, this one had a steady pulse that had everyone from the balcony to the floor getting up to get down. At three minutes in, the band started a slow climb to a beautiful midsection that had the group moving in and around each other, locked in and turning on the joy machine that so many of their fans talk about when discussing why they keep coming back for more. Mitarotonda’s fluid guitar work just kept patiently elevating over the solid and fulfilling bass conjurings of Weekz. Ellis held true to the pocket, shuffling the steadfast snare as Anspach classically filled the gap with the piano sound. Spinning the room, Mitarotonda rapidly fired strings of notes that although quick were interestingly subdued, not to let the beast out of the cage too early. Pulling off a good swirl for nearly seven minutes and touting some great rock star flare and finish, the mood shifted and echoed into the angular and ventured into groove country. Weekz played into the higher register as Mitarotonda chopped and bounced, Anspach and Ellis holding the rhythm in check. Picking up the pace, the final minutes saw the whole room dancing intently and accepting of what the band was putting out.
Downshifting and exhaling, the band transitioned into the first cover of the night with The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin”. This relative rarity got early recognition from the diehards, it being performed only ten times since 2020 and the first one in forty six shows. Anspach laid heavy into the organ vibe and Mitarotonda belted the words with soul and emotion, twisting his face as he lit the hearts of those listening and singing along. His guitar voicings matched his vocal inflection and made this seven minute track light and crushing all in the same breath.
Pausing to reassemble under a house full of praise, Mitarotonda feeling it all gave out a simple, “Hell yeah” before blasting into Anspach’s “Earthling or Alien?” Yet another first rendering for the year 2026, this one gets stage time about once a tour, and for those paying attention to the little details, reinforced that the band was pulling out the stops to make this night a special occasion. With its infectious rock and funk grooves, this one had fans bouncing, exploding, dancing, and reeling on edge. At the eight minute mark, Weekz got the center stage treatment and handed out low end solo candy and smiles to all the kidz. Riding that high hat and popping his head to and fro, Ellis was deep in it, keeping perfect time and loving every minute of living in the moment. Anspach chunked at the clavinet here, placing pieces and butting up against Mitarotonda’s counterpoints. For nearly eight minutes more, there was certainly no need for climax or crescendo as the whole room was content to be just feeling the grounding goodness of simplicity running through them. Hitting the fifteen minute mark and turning on the echo, Mitarotonda shifted the trajectory, taking the tribe from earth and began the move towards the heavens, the passengers and copilots following suit without question.
Returning to the terrestrial with a soft landing into heartland, the quartet moved into a beautiful rendition of the evocative “Everything Must Go”. Coming in at fourteen minutes, this version had it all: those emotional lyrics, glory chords in abundance, embracing harmonies, a hypnotizing melody, and with it all a ride that no one wanted off. The edenistic structure of the tune aside, the seven minute mark had the band jumping off the deep end for chaos and dissonance, churning and pulling, unsettling the room and drawing many a grin for those who appreciate that sort of thing and for Goose being much more than an expected rock and roll jamband. The last two minutes had the band racing for the finish line with Mitarotonda leading the way with blurring pick runs of bent notes full of tension and release, sending many hands skyward in celebration. Feeling like the closer, everyone in the room reeled with the joy that the last seventy plus minutes had furnished and thanked the band in their own way, but feeling it too, the band decided to take it in another direction.
Mitarotonda paused at the microphone, “Now we’re being told that the set’s supposed to end now so I guess we’re going to end now. We lost track of time.” Anspach immediately responded, “No, no, no” to which Mitarotonda raised an eyebrow and said, “No? One More?”, Anspach volleyed back, “Let’s play one more.” In agreement with an audience busting at the seams, the band moved to produce another special moment on an already memorable set and pulled “It Burns Within” off the shelf, performing this one for the first time in 120 shows since June 26th, 2024. Of note, this tune has only been played eleven times since its debut in 2014. With its southern cadence and flavor, this love song felt oh so right and had everyone dancing with joy like children to the little something extra none of us saw coming.
As if that wasn’t enough to end the set on a higher note, Goose continued to make good decisions and segued into the upbeat jazz fusion standard “Spain” by the legendary Chick Corea. Although it had only been eighteen shows since its last outing in September of 2025, to provide context to its rarity, this version marked only its sixth performance ever since its debut in 2015. This hot take was handed off like a well rehearsed staple from the canon rather than a one off and listening to the group deliver their take showed further that these gentlemen deserve serious props as accomplished and effective musicians and communicators and that their influences encompass so many talented forces. For what it is worth, New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz and to have the band dial this one up and perform it with such solidarity and control made its placement seem so very intentional and so very personal.
Hitting the final notes and sending everyone into a final wave of gratitude, Anspach let off a fevered ‘wooo’ before sharing his own love for the room: “Alright New Orleans! We will be right back, you guys are the sh*t!”, lighting up the blissed out crowd.
Already running behind on the proverbial schedule, the intermission was expectedly short and came in at around twenty minutes, leaving some still trying to get their seats and others still trying to get their drinks.
Returning to the stage, Anspach took a moment to get the love back on board:
"You guys are great. You all having fun tonight? Did you get to know your neighbors? Say hello? Give your neighbor a high five right now. Hell yeah! Because it's good to be alive. Hell yeah!"
Getting into set two, “Drive” was the vehicle to get everyone back on and down the musical road. This rocking piece outfitted with some ‘Let’s go’ sample horns had a crowd showing that they too had much more in the tank and were ready to dance into the night. This twenty minute monster wasted no time melting faces for multiple minutes of the midsection. Pulling back, the band went from full reactor overload to reverb groove that had the string trio of Anspach, Mitarotonda, and Weekz criss-crossing one another fluidly and effortlessly. WIth minutes passing in the blur and quick, it wasn’t long before harmonic and intertwined shifted to more space exploration that oscillated from free floating to full firestorm and back again. Drifting to the outer limits, the momentary hue shifted dramatic to channeled alien speak that had at least this listener realizing his minuscularity in an ever expanding universe of tone and vibration, dwarfing the consciousness under the unseen force of music. The twenty minutes of this drive seemed at times to go on forever while at others, a blink of an eye.
Like a flower found in a barren wasteland of the ego destroyed, “Rosewood Heart” brought the room to reprieve both in structure and script. With themes of retrieving lost things, this affective choice hit on all the right cylinders. From Mitarotonda’s singing to Anspach’s piano rendering to Ellis’ effortless cymbal and snare shuffle to Weekz’s gentle accent, this number is the Goose brand of music through and through. Seven minutes into this one, Mitarotonda exhibited some exquisite guitar play, his sound rich and bold while also being warm and fluid. His interplay with Ellis at the nine minute mark, where each man was meeting the other beat for beat at an accelerated pace, once again proved that Ellis has certainly earned his place at the drum throne. Timing out at nearly seventeen minutes and being the first take since September of 2025, this reading was uplifting, cerebral, and all around an explosion of the soul especially at its climax.
Two songs in and thirty eight minutes later, Goose treated the audience to a track from their latest release Big Modern! Putting Ellis in the driver’s seat, “MEDIA” got a promotion and moved from a first set standard to the big leagues of the second frame. Illustrating the significance of the night once again and a thermometer into how the band was feeling in the new room, this version hit sixteen plus minutes, making it the longest version ever by more than ten minutes of its previous showings. Anspach got to work early with vibratory synth efforts that mesmerized and hypnotized under the pulsating illumination directed by lighting maestro Andrew Goedde. When the band hit the weird, this was the epitome of psychedelia at its finest. Minute fourteen of this one had the tune turn from creature to monster and rode like an unrelenting ride of darkness, ferocity, and blind yet guided intrepidation that had many laughing to tears and others holding on for dear luck.
Putting everyone’s pieces back together again, the fierce foursome wrapped the room in comfort with a closing “Western Sun”. Hitting nearly eighteen minutes in length, this version would be stamped as the sixth longest version ever of its seventy eight iterations since 2015. At seven minutes the functional part of the song came to a close and the unit turned on a dime, returning into jamland. Cool, calm, collected, the fearless foursome drove to a slow build that had them as patient as ever and piping out the quality as they had done from the start. From extended notes to frenetic fanning to power chords, Mitarotonda took the room skyward once again. Watching the stoic Weekz deliver some great tension and release alongside his guitar counterpart like it was the easiest thing to do made for more than a few people losing their marbles. With a thunderous and punchy ending, Anspach called out “Thank you New Orleans” as the tatters of the song faded under the deluge of appreciation coming out of the crowd.
Holding the crowd at bay for a full three minutes as they caught their breath side stage, the band returned with Anspach leading the way and once again wielding the mic for a final shout out: “Thank you so much guys. Shout out to Coach down here riding the rail. Yeah! Who’s coming back tomorrow? Oh yeah, this place is sick! Thanks for coming out, thanks for having us here.” To the delight of the whole house, Goose closed it all out with another indicator that they had felt what everyone on the other side of the stage had with a healthy rendition of The Grateful Dead’s “Mississippi Half Step”. With the familiar lead in, everyone knew from the start what they were getting and unleashed the appreciation on the band once again. Being within walking distance of the Mississippi River, the geographical reference was not wasted and added to the kind vibe of the closer. This would also be the tune’s first time in the encore slot and although its timing seemed pretty standard, this did not make it any less special for night one in The Big Easy for Goose and all who turned out to tune in.
To recap, what got shared in that beautiful, historic venue was a premier performance for the band and its dedicated audience, a first set that the band intentionally pushed past its scheduled time by two songs, a four song second set that came in at seventy one minutes, and a Dead tune to end it all. With all of this in mind, it really doesn’t matter what side of the fence your Goose flies, this was a night that left both those familiar and novice to the band’s experience with huge smiles, open hearts, and a whole lotta excitement for what would come on night two.
