Hype is a funny thing. Sometimes, it feels like social media is just one big breeding ground of endless hype that becomes so all-consuming that it ultimately just transforms itself into a barrage of incessant white noise. With Geese, it’s been impossible to tune out the outside noise. They have already been hailed as everything from the ‘savours of rock music’ (has rock ever really needed saving anyway?) to the ‘second coming of The Strokes’. It’s easy to think that the band’s current tour would be their chance to prove that they are indeed worthy of these endless accolades we have bestowed upon them.
Here’s the thing though, Geese had already proved everything that they needed to prove before they even stepped foot onto the stage. Their killer songs and enigmatic, raucous performances on record did more than enough talking for them already. This run of shows wasn’t their chance to live up to the hype. It was a victory lap. They didn’t have a single point to prove. They had the audience in the palm of their hands before they had even played a single note and they knew it. They played with such freedom and looseness that it was impossible to take your eyes away from any of them for even a single moment. This was their show. The songs became fluid and malleable as they played around with arrangements and phrasings. They reshaped songs in the moment as if by mutual telekinesis as each band member constantly locked eyes and kept each other on their toes. It was wild, unpredictable and simply invigorating to watch.
As blistering as they can be, they aren’t afraid to jam it out either. Each note feels deliberate, and yet, somehow also entirely crafted in the moment. Unlike most jam bands, Geese understand brevity. They know exactly when to pull back just as much as they know when to take things up a notch. It all feels like the best kind of musical whiplash. One of the highlights was during ‘3D Country’ opener ‘2122’, when frontman Cameron Winter just stopped the music and played Leeds native’s Chumbawamba’s ‘I Get Knocked Down’ through the microphone from his phone speaker for well over a minute. He was having fun. He didn’t care. Not content to rest on the laurels of their hugely successful latest record ‘Getting Killed’, the band fired through a new and unreleased song towards the end of the night titled ‘Apollo’. They absolutely brought the house down as Winter declared that he was ‘going to the moon’ with such manic veracity that it was difficult not to believe him. There’s a certain agony in wondering how long you’ll have to wait to hear a song like this again after getting just a taste of it live.
Perhaps one of the reasons why they have been crowned with so much hype is because it’s been so long since people have been so excited about a band. Make no mistake, for all of Winter’s solo success, Geese are a band. Seeing them perform doesn’t feel like seeing five distinct individuals, it feels like witnessing five gears all turning in motion to power the same explosive machine. Each note feels like a response to the last one and each syllable feels like it could be blown off course with even the subtlest of interventions from any other sound or instrument. The crowd mirrored this distinct alchemy as they congealed into one solid mass as they moved and swayed, fracturing at will to each note that exploded out of the stage.
In a world that has become so divisive, unsettling and hostile, it is an absolute blessing to be able to experience so much joy from something as comparatively inconsequential as music. Whether you believe the hype or not, having a few thousand people all coming together to celebrate just a single band is special. Seeing Geese is a reminder of why we all love live music in the first place. It’s exciting. It brings us together and for just a couple of hours, it feels like it’s all that matters.
