Avoiding the Band Goose while Anticipating the Band Goose

I'm feeling confident the band Goose will show me "The Way It Is" at Westville Music Bowl

Photo by Daniel Prakopcyk

I can’t wait to see the band Goose this coming Sunday, June 30, at Westville Music Bowl in Connecticut. 

My anticipation is strong, my yearning is so great to see a band that all of my contemporaries are raving about. So how do I gear up for what I am thinking is going to be an epic night? My only strategy for getting the most out of this experience is to avoid the band Goose—mustaches, mullet and all—at all costs. 

That’s right, I am on a Goose embargo until Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. As one might say, I don’t want to know from Goose until then. I wanna walk into this show cold, with a clean slate, having really no idea what they are all about or what their deal is, what their vibe is, what they had for breakfast or what kind of sneakers they wear.

As for now, NO GOOSE FOR ME!

Let me be dazzled. Let me be cleaved in two. Let the Goose remove my head from my neck. Will they allow me to join them in taking flight? Will I need shoes after the Goose summons me to levitate? Will they shred me like a big block of mozzarella cheese anxious to pair with tomato sauce on an as-yet-uncooked piece of French bread pizza?

Well, for the love of all things sacred, let’s hope so. 

All I know is that I am ready for the Goose. All I can hope for is that the Goose is ready for me. What will go down when we finally meet? I don’t know for certain. But methinks the trajectory of my life will be altered forever, for the better, and I can take the Goose home with me in my heart, to share with folks far and wide.

And, I’m wondering, what kind of goose this band is, exactly? According to the National Audubon Society, we’ve got the:

• Canada Goose

• Egyptian Goose

• Snow Goose

• Greater White-fronted Goose

• Cackling Goose

• Pink-footed Goose

• Barnacle Goose

• Ross’s Goose

• Emperor’s Goose

My guess is that THE Goose, THAT Goose, OUR Goose will be a cross between the Cackling Goose and the Pink-footed Goose. Yeah, that sounds about right. Let the cackling begin!

The only interaction I HAVE had with the Goose was watching video footage of them playing with Bruce Hornsby at Hampton Coliseum on Bruce’s 1980s hit, “The Way It Is.” The occasion was Goosemas X and, while I am biased because “The Way It Is” is one of my favorite songs, and I was always jazzed that Jerry Garcia dug Hornsby just like I did, I’ve gotta say that Bruce and the Goose rocked “The Way It Is” hard.

There wasn’t much of a solo vibe for any of the performers, but more of a collective energy that lit the burners on the launch pad and achieved an effortless liftoff a la The Great Gazoo. Yeah, they hit THAT moment we all travel hundreds of miles to see, what Bob Weir once described to me as, “Merging with the Divine.” And there was not a hint of ego anywhere. I’ve gotta add that Rick Mitarotonda’s vocals are what really won me over—so sincere, so aware, such a lack of pretension. He was genuine and seemed as dazzled by all that was unfolding around him as the fans cheering him on. 

So, now the clock ticks and I am really getting a laugh out of the fact that I’m beyond psyched to see this band I know so little about. Other than Rick, I have no idea who the band members are. Song titles? Nope. Yeah, they’re from Connecticut, which is kinda cool since I’m seeing them in Connecticut. But I don’t know WHERE in Connecticut they are from.

I know this night is going to be epic. I can feel it in my bones. I don’t get this feeling a lot. But I’ve got it now. Until Sunday, Goose. Until Sunday. Honk, honk.

P.S. 

And how about this venue, Westville Music Bowl? This will be another first for me. Just like Goose, I’ve heard great things about this venue. I only hope they let me bring my tennis racket inside! 

According to the Yale Daily News, Westville Music Bowl, a converted tennis stadium on the Yale University Campus, was, at one time, the third-largest purpose-built tennis stadium in the world, larger even than Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

According to VenuesNow, Westville Music Bowl is a retrofit of the old Connecticut Tennis Center, a $20 million stadium that opened in 1991. It sits across the street from the historic Yale Bowl, where the Grateful Dead performed in July 1971. 

Giddy up!