Fans flock to Swanzey, NH for Goose at Drive-In Live

Goose has been loose across New England in the past few weeks, performing Drive-In shows in Yarmouth, MA, Morris, CT, Essex Junction, VT and soon they’ll head to Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina. Goose hit a fever pitch with fans in 2019 and have made the most of this new era of live music, between a successful Bingo Tour in June, and recent Drive-In stops across the Northeast.

Goose Drive-In Live

So when Goose headed from Northern Vermont down to Southwestern New Hampshire on Saturday, October 3, they marked the closest shows to New York State, and beyond their just announced Halloween run at South Farms in Morris, CT, these shows stand to be the final chances to catch Goose in the Northeast, possibly until 2021.

Arriving at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, NH, cars were greeted by a friendly staff and it was incredibly easy for you to locate your car’s spot. Areas on either side of your car were marked off for social distancing, and your party could begin once you were parked.

No matter where you parked, the sound was incredibly good. Speaker stacks made it so the folks in the C section towards the back got the same quality as folks in the A section up front, allowing all to hear the new clavinet for guitarist/keyboardist Peter Anspach. Even the sloping hill allowed for good views even from the top of the venue.

Goose Drive-In Live

Highlights from the evening included an early cover of The Band’s “Look Out Cleveland” and 20-minute versions of “Madhuvan” and the second set opening “Tumble.” Tom Waits’ dark “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis” followed “Tumble,” and was repeated in the encore due to skipping a portion of the song the first time. The encore was polished off by the second ‘Jive’ tune of the night, “Jive Lee.” Listen to the show on Archive here.

Swanzey has succeeded in a state where live music is still embraced and allowed, and should be looked at as a template for how to pull off live music until the pandemic has subsided. On Saturday, October 31st, Pink Talking Fish will headline a Halloween Mini-Festival at Drive-In Live in Swanzey, featuring Mihali from Twiddle and Neighbor, marking the grand finale for the Drive-In Live concert series.

The night before in Burlington, Goose welcomed Giant Country Horns member Dave ‘The Truth’ Grippo for most of the show, including “Time to Flee,” seen below.

Setlist – Goose at Drive-In Live, Swanzey, NH, October 2, 2020

Set 1:Yeti, Look Out Cleveland*, Honey Bee, Jive I, Madhuvan, 726
Set 2: Tumble, Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis^, All I Need, Echo Of A Rose, Flodown
Encore: Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis^, Jive Lee

* The Band ^Tom Waits

For Halloween, Goose will perform two shows on Friday, October 30th and Saturday, October 31st. South Farms has hosted numerous acts, using the multipurpose outdoor venue with a grid-like layout where the audience is situated in pairs, on 8’x8’ plots of grass. 

Goose halloween

Unlike drive-in shows, South Farms is equipped for the band to use live sound, as opposed to FM radio transmitters. Social distancing guidelines are in effect while attending the event. 

Ticket presale begins on Wednesday, October 7 at 10 AM ET, followed by a general onsale on Friday. October 9 at 10 AM ET.

photos by Zach Culver

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