The Brewers Won the World Series, Then Goose Came to Town and Kept the Party Going

If you’d bet that Peter Anspach would mention the Brewers at some point Friday night, you’d have cashed out fast. Goose’s keyboardist and resident baseball nut congratulated Milwaukee on its first-ever World Series title almost as soon as he reached the stage, and the Miller High Life Theatre roared before the band played a note.

The city earned the victory lap. Goose last played this room in February 2025 for their first shows of that year and their first with their new lineup, a run plenty of fans still call the best of 2025. So when the band booked its only three-night stand of 2026 here, people flew in from all over hoping for a sequel. Milwaukee has quietly become a jam destination, built on Widespread Panic’s annual October runs at the Riverside Theater.

Goose came back with a lot more material to work from. Three albums have landed since that February run — Everything Must Go and Chain Yer Dragon in 2025, Big Modern! this year — and the band leaned on all of them, weaving in now-rare older tunes like “Time to Flee” or “Wysteria Lane”. The covers spanned the map, too, ranging from Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” to David Byrne and Brian Eno’s “Strange Overtones.”

Some jams went deep into “Goontz” territory, the band’s four-on-the-floor house gear, and for stretches every night the theater stopped feeling like a rock show and started feeling like a warehouse party. Bassist Trevor Weekz sat high in the mix all weekend, steering the jams with a confidence that shows how far he’s come. Drummer Cotter Ellis played with an intensity few jam-band drummers can touch. And Rick Mitarotonda’s soaring lead work peaked during night two’s “Wysteria Lane,” the kind of solo people will be pulling up to relisten to for a while.

The clearest proof came at the end of night two. The band had finished, the house lights were up on the crowd, and Anspach looked out and said he hadn’t seen a single person sitting down all night. Then he pointed out what he could see from the stage: fans on crutches, all over the venue, standing and holding them over their heads.

The party never actually stopped, either. The venue turned its atrium into a second stage, with Squeaky Feet, Hot Like Mars, and Modern Joey closing each night post-show. Hot Like Mars even played set break on Saturday.

Sunday’s encore brought Anspach out in a Brewers jersey, and Goose launched into The Band’s version of “Don’t Do It” to close the weekend.

Milwaukee won a World Series. When Goose came to town, they won again.