A Night @ The Troubadour With El Ganso
One of the most Legendary Sets Goose has ever Produced, in one of the most historically significant Live Music Venues in the world. What could go wrong?
It’s a ballsy move to send it to a Goose concert with no ticket. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who got locked inside of the waiting room on Monday morning. I’m going to have to accept that lie because I don’t want to admit that I slept through my alarm and didn’t even get a chance at the waiting room…Next time Goose has a benefit i’ll know to never to make that kind of mistake again.
The Troubadour is responsible for a lot of great artists meeting each other and legendary sets from some of the most well known bands you can think of. I’m not going to get into it right now, that would be a long tangent. I highly recommend checking out the Troubadours website. It has all of the History of the venue on a chronological timeline. The venue itself is a gem. If you’ve never been and you live in LA, Its a place you have to check out. Capacity is 500 but somehow feels way smaller because of the way the Mezzanine droops over the crowd. The Mezzanine also looks like it was built way before building codes were ever a thing. It really adds to the edgy Aura that consumes the venue.
I showed up 2 hours before the doors opened with no ticket; but one thing that I did have was a really good attitude to make sure that I found one. Even though I showed up early, 2 people that were standing right near my friends in line got miracle’d in. I was determined to make it happen for myself instead of letting it deteriorate my confidence.
Everybody in line was vibin’. Some of the best group meditative spaces in the middle of West Hollywood that I have personally been apart of. The lot was constructed right on the sidewalk. No cars. One silver lining was that it brought everyone into a massive blob. It made it easy to hold up a sign that someone else had used to get Miracle’d in.
The sign helped me meet everybody. A great way to break the ice with strangers and a conversation piece that facilitated stories about finding a Miracle. If I already had a ticket, I would have never gotten out of my comfort zone and explored the line the way that I did. Not finding a ticket was more fun. I could feel my agenda shifting as the vibrations changed from one conversation to another. Some were bad, others were mild, but nothing unusual .
I saw one of my friends that I made in the lot on Friday at the Greek. He wished me luck after letting me know that he didn’t have an extra. It was worth the shot. I went to the front of the line and saw my friend Bobby. He has helped me out in the past, maybe he has an extra. After a great conversation of catching up I left empty handed. My chances weren’t looking good.
I had a great conversation with a married couple from Connecticut who had seen some of the first shows with Cotter at the Capitol Theatre this year. The conversation circumnavigated plenty of other great topics as well. The type of words that were being used to construct the conversations that we were pleasantly exploring were ones that you would only have in line before a Goose Concert. Their niece was about to show up, Who was maybe gonna bail and I was going to take her ticket if that happened. I continued my journey down the line that was thinning by the second.
Moments like this is when I realize time is a flat circle and Miracles can be manifested into reality. Colton, one of the guys my friends told me about getting a miracle before I showed up, had a number for a guy that was going to miss the first set. I texted him and hoped for the best.
Set 1
Listened from the Street in front of the entrance. It was comfy leaning against a palm tree. The spot felt worn. I defiantly wasn’t the first person to lean their during a set. The acoustics were good enough to drown out the police chase that was going on behind me. As entertaining as that was, moving to the back Alley was the best way to hear the Band. The Bouncer in the back wasn’t happy about us loitering, but he didn’t tell us to leave. I listened to them play Borne. In the middle of the Jam I walked back to my car to drop off my Book that I had grabbed earlier after I got Shut out. Will Forte hopped on the Mic and played War Pigs soon after. One song I wish I was able to catch during that first set.
Before I met up with the Gentleman that was going to help me inside…
One of the other guys that got shut out with me smoked me down in the alley with a very tasty Spliff. As controversial as Spliffs may be, I’m guilty of letting it distract me from hearing Trevor and Cotters Bass Rattle the Back doors of the Troubadour. I wanted to even out my losses be returning the favor to him. I gave him a departing gift of a handful of some Acapulco Gold.
I rushed back to be met by the first people that were entering the streets for the set break. I rolled a joint in my car back when I was dropping off my book. I enjoyed it with one of my friends that was in the Mezzanine. Hearing his perspective from the first set was such a great time. When I finally got welcomed into the venue after I was able to get my ticket, It felt like getting invited to the coolest Jam Party in Hollywood.
Set 2
After exploring the Mezzanine, which provides a great view of the Band, I felt the front row would be the best way to enjoy the set. I pissed a lot of people off shoving my way to the front but thankfully I made more friends through the process. People were sitting down and blocking my path but it gave me the opportunity to have a conversation about Burning Man. He complimented the patterns on my Scarf. I gotta make it out to the Playa eventually. Once it got closer to start time it made it easy to find the rest of my group. The boys came out of the gates flying.
Rick was right in front of me. One of the most electric moments of my life. When I saw Goose in Santa Barbra last year I was pretty close. 3rd row from the rail was amazing but their was about 25ft from the rail to the front of the stage where the boys were posted up. Ship of Fools was a dream come true. Rick played it with so much passion. Later found out it was the first time Goose had ever played it. Everything Must Go before, and Pancakes after, made me, as well as the rest of the crowd, beg for the Jams to go on deep into the night.
Peter during Sham a lam a Ding Dong was shredding his Red Fender and Trevor was dropping the most epic bombs on the Bass. A set I will never forget. I really hope that the boys and the rest of the crew decide to upload the set to Nugs. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t though.
Its one of those moments you just had to be there for.
Sharing the Troubadour in that moment in time with Goose, and the rest of the crowd, makes you thankful that you were able to be present in that small corner of West Hollywood for just a few hours. Hours you wish you could live in forever. Thankfully I can… with the memories that were created.