Goose Create Spectacular Surrealist Carnival-Like Release Party With ‘Luna Luna’ At NYC’s Shed

Collaborating with “Luna Luna Forgotten Fantasy” exhibition with art-star-made amusement rides, artist Brian Blomerth, Justin Bolognino of META, producer/mix engineer Abe Seiferth and others, Goose put together a wondrous record release event. the likes of which has never before been seen.

In advance of their jam-packed upcoming tour, Goose put a unique spin on the phrase “life is a carnival” on Tuesday, March 11 at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City in celebration of the upcoming release of their latest studio album, Everything Must Go. The event, dubbed “Goose x Luna Luna: The Everything Must Go Experience” was a journey into a surreal and phantasmagorical sideshow carnival. Replete with fantastical attractions, eccentric and colorful, otherworldly characters scored by an ethereal soundscape which transported, those lucky enough to be there, to a psychedelic dreamspace.

Everything Must Go, Goose’s fourth studio album, is set to drop April 25, 2025 (No Coincidence Records) with new drummer Cotter Ellis. The band has pre-released two tracks already “Give It Time” (see video below) and “Lead Up” which reflect their penchant for tight, crisp versions of their album tracks in contrast to their sprawling and exhilarating live performances. “The Everything Must Go Experience” pop-up show was only announced to the public Tuesday, March 4 with extremely limited tickets released later that day.

The Shed in Hudson Yards, with its unique retractable shell design, is a flexible, multifunctional cultural event space capable of accommodating an audience of up to 2,200 but Luna Luna capacity is only 900 guests, making for an incredibly intimate affair and proved the ideal space for this event.

The band ingeniously partnered with the “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy” exhibition, the world’s only art carnival, as the foundation for an immersive evening of art, theater, and music and included pieces by Keith Haring (merry go round), Jean-Michel Basquiat (ferris wheel), Salvador Dalí (mirror funhouse) and Roy Lichtenstien (glass labyrinth). 

Originally, Luna Luna was an “art” amusement park conceived by Austrian artist and curator André Heller and set up in a field like a traditional traveling carnival for patrons to ride and experience these one-of-kind masterpieces. Luna Luna ran throughout the summer of 1987 in Hamburg, Germany. However, after a failed attempt to take it worldwide, the works were stored in 44 shipping containers. They remained in storage until they were rediscovered in a Texas storage facility in 2019. Through the collaboration of Something Special Studios and Dreamcrew (the media company co-owned by Drake), an extensive effort was made to restore most of the pieces. A selection of these restored works are what comprise Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy currently on display at The Shed.

Tuesday’s event expanded upon Luna Luna’s existing artwork, offering attendees an album remix soundtrack, numerous whimsical and playful characters brought to life from artist Brian Blomerth’s album cover (below), the opportunity to listen to album tracks, and a live improvisational music performance by the band.

At the event, guests entered the exhibit space and like the original carnival, were able to freely roam amongst and into the Luna Luna attractions. It’s surrealness heightened by the characters from the album cover who interacted with guests, providing fun and spirited, yet somewhat mischievous, encounters. Among them were the Strongman who let his 1000 lb barbell teeter precariously towards guests, a Wizard casting spells, a Rollerskate Girl spinning circles around guests while grooving to music, a pair of chimps who surrounded guests and playfully taunted them and dozens more.  The event also featured a soundtrack created by Brooklyn producer/mix engineer Abe Seiferth, using stems and sounds from the album.

For an exclusive first listen to unreleased tracks from their upcoming album, the band chose to utilize Luna Luna’s only new piece, Poncili Creacion’s “Poncililand.” For those fortunate enough in their explorations to come across and venture into the space, this curtained-off area is filled with whimsical “building blocks” of characters that guests can sit in, move around, and assemble as they please. A Victrola-provided turntable and high end home sound system were placed within the piece, which a Chef character used to “cook up” tracks from the new album by spinning them on vinyl. The tracks in the space sounded incredible, further enhanced by the surreal dancing Chef and basking iguana characters interacting amicably with the guests.

A small 16’ circular stage had been set up in the center of the main space, featuring simplified versions of each band member’s stage rigs. Although the the stage was surrounded by a ring of vertical Astera tube lights, the work of Goose’s Lighting Director, Andrew Goedde, appeared relatively restrained compared to his increasingly bold designs for Goose’s tours. There were some minor additions to the existing event lighting design, but nothing comparable to what is featured during their typical live shows.

Just shy of two hours after the doors opened, the costumed band members made their way through the crowd and onto the stage. Joining them this evening was friend of the band and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie, who added clarinet, flute, and sax to the mix. Playing “in the round” the band chose to situate themselves facing each other, inward on stage. This setup wound up providing a more intimate feel to the performance as if the audience were invited to join them in a small practice space. They performed a continuous piece for just over an hour, traversing a wide range of sonic explorations. The soundscape evolved into several peaks throughout its course, featuring a variety of dynamic musical “conversations” between the band members. 

At different points throughout the performance, Kenny Sharf’s swing ride, Basquiat’s ferris wheel and Arik Bruer’s carousel came to life and began to spin and turn. Charging the audience with the kinetic motion, it lent itself to the creation a sublime otherworldliness to the overall performance. 

This event marks the first collaboration from the band’s new partnership with Justin Bolognino’s experiential design firm META. When asked about the genesis of the event, Bolognino said “Based on all that was going on, and that the release was coming, I put together a big pitch for them to play Luna Luna. In our initial discussions they’d mentioned wanting their shows to feel like a circus, so that’s what led me to the venue. Then, when I saw the incredible album art, I had the idea to take all those wild characters and literally bring them to life. It was really important to make the performance really intimate, so there was no separation by the fourth wall.” 

Having been given free reign by Blomerth to use the cover characters as seen fit, they became an important focal point for designing the experience. Bolognino and his Creative Producer, Rüts worked extensively together and really leaned into the opportunity these characters presented saying, “Some of the characters are from Goose past, with nods and easter eggs to band lore. We are really going for building out that lore and creating characters that will be used in the future as the lore evolves.”

For those who missed out on the event, the intimate gathering was extensively filmed, aligning with Goose’s tradition of creating videos for their fans. It’s likely to be released in some form on their YouTube channel.

Moving forward, Goose and META are already hard at work on the next collaboration, the 3 day “Viva El Gonzo” festival in Cabo San Jose, Mexico in May. This marks Goose’s first festival of their own and both the band and META are looking for it to be unique and unforgettable. Bolognino shares  “We’re bringing in lots of immersive art installations, performers and most importantly new lore, new themes and new stories. That’s where we focus most.”

It is clear the band is thinking about their identity and public perception beyond just touring and traditional live performance. They appear to be seeking to define their own unique artistic expression and community cultural experience. When asked about what the future holds for the band, Bolognino reflects “Our goal is to show the world that Goose are Artists first, with a capital A and their influence is and will be much more than the limiting “Jamband” label that they’re often pushed into. This is why Luna Luna was so important. Being literally within the lineage of those incredible artists, Dali, Lichtenstein, Basquiat, Sharf, Herring—this is the Goose story we will be telling.”  

Goose heads into what should prove to be a pivotal year of touring, with a New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival play on April 24, the day before the release of “Everything Must Go.” The band then hosts “Viva El Gonzo” May 8-10, followed by a coast to coast US tour that  begins late May (see below). The tour features a number of festival appearances including Bottle Rock, Bonnaroo, All Good Now, and Mountain Jam. The final two shows culminate with the band’s first headlining show at Madison Square Garden on June 28 and closing  out the month with a “hometown” show at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, CT on June 29.

GOOSE – TOUR 2025

APRIL
24 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival *

MAY
8-10 – San José del Cabo, Mexico – Viva El Gonzo
25 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley *
27 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
28 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
30 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
31 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Pavilion

JUNE
1 – Boise, ID – Outlaw Field at Idaho Botanical Gardens †
3 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl †
4 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre †
6 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
7 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
10 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory †
11 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory †
12 – Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park †
13 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival *
14-15 – Columbia, MD – All Good Now *
17 – Wilmington, NC – Live Oak Bank Pavilion
19 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion †
20 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion †
21 – Canandaigua, NY – CMAC †
22 – Highmount, NY – Mountain Jam *
27 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion †
28 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
29 – New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl †

SEPTEMBER
12 – Fredericton, NB – Harvest Music Festival *
17 – Madison, WI – Kohl Center †

• FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
  † W/ MT. JOY