Over the last 18 months Geese have established themselves as the latest members of the New York band of the moment pantheon, flowing through from The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Television, The Talking Heads, Sonic Youth and The Strokes (among countless others). Regardless of the pedestal that that hierarchy has placed them on the audience at their second and final night at Barrowland Ballroom clearly had an expectation that only a true representation of “the band of the moment” could live up to.

As they took the stage to a dim back lighting which became a recurrence you could feel a palpable excitement for star songwriter Cameron Winter to lurch over the microphone at central stage, bathing in his heavy mop of murky hair. But he didn’t, instead choosing to sit down at a keyboard placed towards the back of the stage, a seat that would be later filled by touring member Sam Revaz. Thus leading onto the not so customary opener, a climaxing in the words “long island city here I come”. This set the tone in the sense that it not only differed from the previous night but the last string of gigs, a sentiment that would be echoed by one of Cameron Winter’s few remarks to the crowd when he later said they were going to do some different stuff from the status quo. This had a heavier sound than you would expect from the start of any show, followed by a series of false endings which at first felt a slight bit scripted but became expected with the heavier more abrasive songs.

The band didn’t let up either, firing a string of heavy artillery pieces out upon the audience and refusing to dip into a more cordial sound for the first have of the gig. The onslaught was quite simply exhausting, yet undeniably captivating. This included a tour debut of disco from their first record projector (the nights only offering from this album as opposed to the previous night’s ‘Rain Dance’) as well as ‘Getting Killed’ and ‘Half Real’. The band left themselves seldom moments to breath during this but when they did the audience got their first chance to really eye them up and see the side of Winter that permeates with far more fervour throughout his solo shows. The way his poorly lit face seems to gaze into the sky omnipresent over the audience, as he straddles his words which seem to have a unique delivery in every performance, even conjured the sacrilegious Dylan comparison from some voices behind me, even without the intimacy his solo shows hold sonically.

This led into the prior mention of different material, which had already come by this point. More crucially, this drew the audience in only for them to be tossed aside by the way he dipped into the first words of ‘2122’ in a way which sounded like a joke you’ve heard a hundred times without it losing its humour. This was intersected by The Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Just Like Honey’ in a way which can simply be described as cool. This led onto four more songs from their sophomore effort ‘3D Country’, with each seeming to garner more applause than the last.

This led into a closing suite of 2025s getting killed in a unique way. General setlist rules dictate a song order which isn’t front loaded in terms of noise, but Geese clearly knew what the audience was there to see and had the stomach to make them wait. Slower more accessible material such as ‘Cobra’ and ‘Au Pays Du Cocaine’ allowed Winter’s voice and Emily Green’s guitar to take the forefront (with her perching like a song bird on the drum platform for most of this segment) in a way Max Bassin’s drums and Dominic Digesu’s bass had during the first half of the set. 

This all climaxed in ‘Getting Killed’s first song released ‘Taxes’ in a way which clearly resonated with the audience jumping around and throwing their pints (and even one hoodie) in a way songs twice as loud hadn’t motivated. The encore was a cacophony of both parts however, an entrancingly intense and fitting performance of Trinidad. Whilst it sits at the start of the album, it works perfectly at the end of the set with the band seeming to spend every ounce of energy they have left on every one of those by now expected refrains drawing the audience in more for the final blow. As the dripping menagerie that always leaves the Barrowlands walked out, there was clearly positive feeling in the air.

Geese produced a set which at its loudest put hairs on your chest and at its most intimate made you just want to stare at the floor and let the moment never end. A pretty impressive achievement in an hour and twenty minutes. I hope next time round the venue next time round is big enough for all the people I know who weren’t able be there to make it. It goes without saying the world is watching for a reason, the tricky part is just what the resolution of that wonder will be.

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Words: Marcus MacBeath
Photo Credit: Lewis Evans

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