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How "Hilarious" Surfer Gabriel Goes Got All 5 Coaches Laughing (and 1 Turning a Chair)
"I’m cruising, brah,” the Honolulu resident said.
Before Gabriel Goes began his performance, the 21-year-old Honolulu resident said he was “super ready to bring the Aloha spirit to The Voice.” And although only one of the Coaches turned their chair around for him, it’s safe to say that Goes accomplished his goal, as all five of the Coaches were in stitches and enamored with his surfer ways.
As Goes explained to Dan + Shay, he started playing music when he was “super baby.” The avid surfer and free diver described his style as “surfer boy reggae rock music.”
“My band is my ohana,” Goes said. “Ohana means family.”
Gabriel Goes sings "What I Got" by Sublime on The Voice Season 25
For his Blind Audition, Goes performed “What I Got,” the 1997 single from Long Beach ska punk band Sublime — a group he cited as one of his biggest influences. Goes’ take on the song was a little goofy, staying in a slightly narrower, higher register than Bradley Nowell’s original vocals, but there were plenty of times when his personality and talent shone through with little flourishes. It was enough to convince Chance the Rapper to press his button.
Although the other Coaches didn’t turn their chairs for Goes, they were tickled by him and his Hawaiian slang and affect. (When John Legend asked how he was feeling after the Blind, Goes happily said, “I’m cruising, brah.”)
“You’re, like, from a movie,” an amused Legend said, though he noted that he didn’t turn his chair because he didn’t hear enough range in Goes’ performance despite “loving his energy.”
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Coach Reba McEntire, a country legend, said Goes’ voice was great but said Goes’ style was “something that I didn’t think I’d be able to help [him] with.”
Chance, however, did turn his chair for Goes.
“Gabriel is hilarious. He’s just got a crazy energy to him,” Chance said after the Audition. “As we go through the competition, I can find a little bit more dynamics and a little bit more movement in some of the songs that he’s doing. The other Coaches I don’t know how they let him get away with a one-chair turn, but I think he’s going to surprise in the competition.”
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Goes dedicated his performance to his father, who died in a free-diving accident when he was just six years old. “He’s been gone for so long I’ve come to peace with it and it's made me so much more grateful for exerting and whenever I am free diving, it definitely connects me to him,” Goes said of his dad.
How far will Goes be able to take the Aloha spirit? Watch The Voice on Monday and Tuesday nights on NBC and next day on Peacock.
