NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Why are jam bands so tightly associated with hippie culture and drugs? It’s understood that 60s era hippies and psychedelics were an influence that drove some of the music of early jam bands like the Grateful Dead. However, it continued to persist with Phish in the 80s to even current day jam bands like Goose. Jam bands is really just about improvisation, kinda like jazz and blues except with its roots in Americana.
When I arrived at ArtPark in Lewiston on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, there was a booth selling tie-dyed t-shirts and the smell of pot was already pervasive. But the crowd was ready to have a good time with some die-hard fans having gotten on line four hours earlier! It’s still amazing the strides that this band has made from playing bars and clubs just a couple of years ago to playing much larger venues and arenas.
There was a bit of confusion as to what time the band was starting, whether it was 6pm, 6:30pm or 7pm. The band came on-stage a bit after seven and the audience welcomed them enthusiastically with chants of “Goose, Goose, Goose”! The band got into it right away with “The Whales” from their forthcoming album “Dripfield” (which you can pre-save or pre-order here). I won’t get into the individual songs but the setlist comprised of two sets and an encore encompassing thirteen songs from throughout their discography. The band members are all accomplished musicians but many were there to listen and watch lead guitarist/vocalist Rick Mitarotonda jam on guitar. Seeing him play is the kind of thing that makes one want to pick up a guitar and learn because it’s so easy to sit back and get lost in the music. THIS is what jam bands are all about, not the rest of that extraneous stuff.
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