photo via Goose Facebook

Goose is in its maximalist era. Everything about the roll-out for the Connecticut four-piece’s latest album Big Modern! has been, well, big. Big hooks and big, ‘80s-style production. Bold and bright neon pink and yellow branding that extends to the stage design (pink and yellow rugs, mics, gaffer tape, amps and drum heads). Courtside promo in matching oversized sweatsuits at a New York Knicks game. A big, bright and towering lighting rig.

Onstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 28, Goose didn’t necessarily sound bigger than the band that first played the smaller Chrysalis stage at the historic Columbia, Md., venue in 2022 but that doesn’t mean the sound (or the jams) weren’t big. Technically, Goose is actually smaller than the then-five-piece was at those two shows. Now well into the group’s third year with drummer Cotter Ellis and second as a quartet, Goose is balancing bringing bigger audiences into bigger spaces with even bigger expectations.

After headlining All Good Now at Merriweather last summer, Goose returned to the shed on its own for a (never miss a) Sunday show and drew a big crowd on a gloomy summer evening.

“Are you ready to have the best night of your lives?” guitarist, keyboardist Goose hype man Peter Anspach asked as the band took the stage and launched into an obscure cover of “Bear” by Justin Vernon’s The Shouting Matches. In Goose’s hands, the blues rocker was played a bit heavier than Goose often gets — augmented by a 17-minute jam that got bigger and funkier as it went on, driven by Ellis and his noticeably big drumming.

After a trip to the Caribbean for “Butter Rum” that got the crowd woo-ing and singing along, Goose ditched the island vibe so guitarist Rick Mitarotonda could channel his inner Bruce Hornsby on “Madalena,” a pleasant arena rock song that built to a chunky hypnotic groove.

The centerpiece of the first set — and the show in general — was next. Fans were hyped for a sing-a-long “Arcadia,” one of Goose’s signature songs, that turned out to be the longest “Arcadia” jam in Goose history. Over 27 minutes, Goose explored space with a slowly forming jam that was either patient and searching, or listless and noodling, depending on your perspective. Some fans in the pavilion were totally locked in; others sat down and looked restless as Mitarotonda and Anspach explored, before finally landing on a soaring bliss peak (Goose at its very best) that turned dark and sinister as red lights bathed the stage.

“Jed Stone,” with its vibey intro that recalls Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker,” was an apt cool-down and an example of the kind of anthemic ballad with a big chorus that’s helped Goose stand out amid a sea of modern jambands. As the sun finally set over the pavilion, Andrew Goedde’s massive light rig finally came alive, bathing the crowd in flashing rainbow cones for the goofy “Pancakes,” which had a compact but ferocious funky and crunchy jam to cap the 90-minute set.

The continuous second set ended up being a showcase for one of Goose’s biggest riffs (“Hungersite,” which answers the question: What if a peak jam was a song?), Big Modern! (two songs, including the Zeppelin-esque head-banger “Good Times // End Times” and the prototypically soaring “(((postplace)))”), and Goontz, the electronic, synth-driven side of the band. Goose showcased the latter in the bedroom slow jam “Slow Ready,” which started peaking during the synth jam before seamlessly blending into a cover of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” The biggest dance party of the night, that cover may have been the most fun jam of the evening and had the crowd going nuts.

For the encore, Trevor Weeks dropped some big, amphitheater-shaking bass bombs as Goose tore into the epic, winding “Dripfield,” getting in one last turbo jam for good measure.

Bigger doesn’t always mean better, but for Goose, the Big Modern! era marks a big moment — one the band seems poised to deliver on.