Photo Credit: Bahram Foroughi

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2025 has finally arrived, and with it comes the biggest two weeks of New Orleans’ annual live music calendar. Among the many enticing offerings going on outside of the main festival this year is Fest by Nite, a showcase of 21 special performances from jam scene favorites around the city. Last night, the side series commenced with “Foie Gras & CrumpUntz,” a long-suspected and finally confirmed collaborative set from members of Goose and The Disco Biscuits.

When it was initially announced at the beginning of April, Thursday night’s unique event at the Joy Theater was billed as The Disco Biscuits’ bassist Marc Brownstein and keyboardist Aron Magner with accompaniment from “Frankie Bosco,” “Franz Petit Lupen” and “Bobby Cornstarch.” Only hours before the show, the venue formally announced the identities of the mystery players heavily hinted at in promotional posts to be Goose’s guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda, keyboardist and guitarist Peter Anspach and drummer Cotter Ellis.

Together, the combined quintet served up a decadent single-set performance featuring standout cuts from both bands’ respective discographies, plus a fistful of covers. The group opened with The Disco Biscuits’ longtime live staple “Helicopters,” then flew off into another Bisco cut “Miracles” from the track’s soaring livetronica jam section. From there, the supergroup swerved over to Goose’s catalog for the always sprawling “Creatures,” then dropped into a warped cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” before artfully returning to “Helicopters.”

After a quick breather, the band lit up its second cover of the evening, conjuring Phish with a far-flung treatment of Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless.” From there, the artists set a rapid-fire sprint through alternately stirring and attentive, progged-out and infectiously funky tracks “Slow Ready,” “Buddha,” “Hungersite” and right back to “Buddha.” One last cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” highlighted both bands’ reputation for full commitment, oddball, tongue-in-cheek renditions, summoning a final burst of energy to power them through a closer of Goose’s “Hot Tea.”

“Foie Gras & CrumpUntz” was a welcome left turn in the packed live calendars for all parties involved. Read up on Goose’s headline set at Jazz Fest and upcoming Viva El Gonzo getaway festival, and check out the rest of Brownstein and Magner’s packed Jazz Fest side show itineraries here. 

Goose x The Disco Biscuits
Foie Gras & CrumpUntz
Joy Theater – New OrleansWatch: Goose and The Disco Biscuits Members Unite for “Foie Gras & CrumpUntz” New Orleans Fest by Nite Kickoff
4/24/25
Set: Helicopters > Miracles > Creatures > Tomorrow Never Knows > Helicopters, Crosseyed and Painless, Slow Ready > Digital Buddha > Hungersite > You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), Hot Tea