Geese Week (or the cult of Cameron Winter)
In this past week I was lucky enough to catch Geese and Cameron Winter’s Naarm/Melbourne shows - here’s how it all went down.
Brooklyn rock band Geese and their enigmatic frontman Cameron Winter have had a massive year.
After late 2024 solo debut album Heavy Metal that turned Cameron Winter into one of indie music’s rising stars and the critically lauded third Geese studio album Getting Killed in the tale end of 2025, rock music’s most exciting band came to Australia as part of Laneway Festival and their Getting Killed tour.
Fronted by singer, keyboardist and guitarist Cameron Winter, Geese’s other members are often less discussed - but certainly do not deserve to be forgotten.
Drummer Max Bassin is steadily becoming one of rock’s best drummers with his distinctive at times textured approach to the tubs. Bassist Dominic Digesu’s thumping rhythms drive some of the best moments in the band’s repertoire with fills on Long Island City Here I Come and 2122.
In my opinion, the most underrated part of Geese is guitarist Emily Green. Her approach to playing is unlike many other players today - on the one hand a genius riff writer, on the other a reserved feel player. Geese’s recent NPR Tiny Desk performance really shows off her laid back skillset.
I saw some footage of a solo performance she did in NYC recently, and I’m excited for her to release some music independent of the band. Her other band Star’s Revenge is also immensely underrated.
On Monday the 9th of February I lined up to catch Cameron Winter’s intimate solo performance at The Forum Theatre. By the time I arrived at the venue the queue had almost wrapped around the entire block -and I’d already run into half of Melbourne’s inner north. At one point I ran into three separate groups of my friends in the space of one minute in the venue - it really felt like everyone was here or wished they were.
Multiple fans camped out front with signs asking to buy tickets - and one lucky punter even succeeded as somehow several box office tickets ended up being released last minute.
Opening for Winter was 13-year-old pianist Jing Tao, who performed a set of classical favourites as well as a delightful Michael Jackson medley to finish. The vibe was appropriately set for a meditative and reflective evening.
The show itself was a semi-religious experience. Relatively few people could sing along as Cameron’s phrasing is so marvellously inconsistent - particularly solo.
Playing a set of songs from Heavy Metal along with singles and unreleased tracks, a mesmerised crowd were absorbed by his presence. The key moments of the night were the tracks Love Takes Miles, The Rolling Stones and $0 - particularly the “god is real” moment at the tale end of the latter track. Religious.
Speaking to punters I heard over and over again the praise of Winter’s generational talent. At only 23, he’s being called today’s Bob Dylan and being compared to John Lennon and Nick Cave amongst others.
Many felt they had no doubt that the night would go down as an all-time performance, seeing a musician of that calibre at the peak of their powers.
After what ended up being a busy and complicated few days, with national political instability and personal complications, Geese’s Croxton show on Thursday the 12th finally arrived.
Heading straight to the gig after a visit to the hospital, I ran into almost as many friends and peers as Winter’s solo show in the queue for the Croxton gig.
Though punters camped out for the perfect spot in what would be a much more hectic show, I knew I’d be able to navigate my way to a closer position during the performance so I didn’t fret.
Opening for Geese were Naarm band Radio Free Alice - a rock act that recently blessed Meredith’s Supernatural Amphitheatre last December, so no doubt they are having a good run currently after touring with the Brooklyn rockers. Sounding like a fusion of 80s and 2000s indie bands, RFA earned their opening slot.
Geese’s Croxton set consisted largely of tracks from their latest LP Getting Killed but also featured a few tracks from 2023’s 3D Country along with what has appeared to be a signature cover moment for their live set.
2122, the opening track from their previous release, has seemingly been chosen as an opportunity to slip in a jam of a different cover at every stop on the tour. For Naarm, it was Pink Floyd’s Interstellar Overdrive - for Laneway the following day it was T.V. Eye by The Stooges - making for a bit of classic rock showmanship before jumping back into the tail-end of the track like nothing has changed at all.
But back to the core material - Geese played the entire Getting Killed album. Not in order, but not in an format that upset diehard fans. Translating beautifully to a live sound, Winter’s signature crooning vocal made for a drunk sounding singalong during Half Real, Au Pays Du Cocaine and Taxes - while the moshing reached it’s peak in Getting Killed and of course Trinidad. There’s a bomb in my car.
A surprising but satisfying addition was Cowboy Nudes. One of my favourite riffs in their whole discography, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Emily Green’s ability to switch between rock n’ roll riffing to softer simpler parts is unrivalled.
The next day, I got my final dose of Geese for the week at Laneway Festival. Although many other artists like Blusher, Armlock and Shady Nasty had brilliant sets, it was still down to Geese for me.
Even though it was largely a shorter version of the same set as the night before, I still felt absolutely blessed to be in this crowd full of fans, singing “Like a sailor in a big green boat, like a sailor in a big green coat” and “You’re gonna have to nail me down”.
Focusing on almost entirely key tracks from Getting Killed, we also got the previously mentioned 2122 into Stooges cover - along with a rare appearance of 3D Country album track Crusades.
Taking a step back to not get too crazy in the pit as I had quite a lot of the festival still ahead of me, I got to see the crowd from a distance and perceive in the full light just how connected Naarm is with Geese. I’ve questioned if this fandom is just a small bubble I’ve found myself in, but seeing the reactions at all three of these shows have shown me very clearly just how resonant these artists are to people today.
For the first time in a long time, I got to see a band during their rise multiple times - something I probably haven’t experienced since 2018.
The hype for Geese and Cameron Winter is well deserved, and one can only imagine the career this talented group of young people has in store.
Special thanks to Lukas and Lucas!