Concert Reviews

Amid Geese’s meteoric rise, the band performed at Paradise Rock Club on Friday.

By Gwen Egan

November 15, 2025 | 3:14 PM

4 minutes to read

2025 will probably not be denoted in the history books as the year of belief. Public distrust is at an all-time high, as are food prices, and more than ever it seems like Americans want something to have faith in. 

At their show Friday night at Paradise Rock Club, the Brooklyn-originated rock band found out just how much Boston believes in them. 

The show – already crowded by Dove Ellis’s powerful opening set, which included a masterful cover of Gillian Welch’s “April the 14th, Part 1” – truly began 10 minutes before Geese took the stage. 

A low thrumming chant of “Geese, Geese, Geese, Geese” emanated from the middle of the crowd around 9:05 – falling into a shower of cheers as the band appeared on stage at 9:15. 

Geese – made up of Cameron Winter on vocals, Emily Green on guitar, Dominic DiGesu on bass and sometimes percussion, Max Bassin on drums, and joined by keyboardist Sam Revaz during live performances – is on a well-deserved meteoric rise. Originally formed in Brooklyn in 2016, Geese released their album Getting Killed (produced by Kenneth Blume aka Kenny Beats) on Sept. 26 of this year – to massive fanfare from media outlets and people you meet at house parties alike. 

Right before their Paradise Rock Club show started, resold ticket prices began at a sticker-shock-inducing $470. 

From the first second of the first song – “Husbands” off Getting Killed – it became clear that this would be one of those concerts where the sheer togetherness of the crowd would be a show in itself. Blue lights shone on the band from below – antithetical to the lights-of-heaven-esque shine you’ll find on the cover of their 2025 album. 

Bassin sported a pair of bug-eyed sunglasses behind the drum kit, similar (if not the same!) as the ones he was sporting during the band’s Zane Lowe interview – off and on throughout the set. 

Something became abundantly clear looking out of the crowd bobbing their heads in sync like a coordinated flock of birds for which this band is named. 

Rather unfortunately, we keep living through unprecedented times. It’s difficult to muster up a belief in much of anything when everything seems riddled with dark spots. There’s a lack of things to approach with an almost naive, sweet sense of belief. So, when Winter sings “God is real” and people – regardless of their religious belief – put their faith in Geese enough to buy the ticket, wait in line, show up in droves, and shout along with the lyrics not because of their belief in a religious institution but because of their belief in this American rock band – there’s a kind of sweet faith that’s hard to miss. 

And what’s true about Geese is they are a band. Green’s expressive guitar playing – both in her stage presence and instrumentation – brought an essential shine to the set – especially on songs like “2122” – which was spliced through with a surprise cover of “Roadrunner” written by Jonathan Richman to the audience’s delight. 

“2122” also brought with it a keytar. 

During “Half Real” a spotlight shone behind the band – specifically over Winter’s head. In illuminating him from behind, light leaked out over the crowd and cut out a slice where even from the balcony their faces could be seen with clarity. Members of the audience closed their eyes to the shining lights, nodding their heads to the beat, or sang along to the lyrics – smiles tugging at their lips. 

DiGesu’s bass offerings,’and additions on percussion when the songs necessitated, offered a mooring quality throughout the set – and a great energy as they shone through. 

“Tonight I’m in dire straights, my voice is [expletive],” said Winter to the crowd during the set. “You guys are going to fill in the gaps.” 

And fill in the gaps they did. During “I See Myself” – from the band’s 2023 record 3D Country – crowd members pointing at themselves and then onto the stage on the lyrics “I see myself in you.” 

“This room is so wide,” Winter said at another point during the set. “Paradise, Boston, is kind of redundant when you think about it.” 

Of course, the crowd had to cheer in response to that. 

Looking out over a sea of phones on songs like “Au pays du cocaine” and “Taxes” – it conjured up a throughline concept from Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film Lady Bird. 

“Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing — love and attention?” says Sister Sarah Joan to Lady Bird during the film. The reasons are complex, but the concept is simple. Doesn’t what we pay attention to denote what we care about? Doesn’t attention equal affection? 

When the lights shine into the crowd for a split second between songs and everyone’s hands are above their heads clapping and they crowd up against the railing of a sold out show and sing along to all the words so loudly that Winter’s vocals get drowned out – what Boston is paying attention to is abundantly clear. 

“Trinidad” acted as a high-energy encore and a great, mosh-pit-heavy cap to the evening.

Recently The Atlantic’s Julie Beck wrote a piece entitled “The Great Friendship Flattening” which focused on the flattening of everything into our phones — including our close relationships. 

There’s an instinct to flatten everything that we find on our phones — including a new band you’re obsessed with. There’s a pull towards commercializing, celebritizing, averaging out, and wanting to voyeuristically know the truth behind every line. 

The truth is, it’s impossible to know what a band’s songs mean truly to the band members who created them — whether the complexity of their lyrics is true or projected or by happenstance. 

However, there is a certainty in being able to clearly see what their songs mean to the crowd. The value of in-person performances is getting to take something potentially flattened and putting it in, or in the case of Geese, taking it to 3D Country. 

Setlist from Geese at Paradise Rock Club, Nov. 14, 2025:

Husbands
Getting Killed
Islands of Men
Half Real
2122 (Including snippet of “Roadrunner” by The Modern Lovers)
I See Myself
Cowboy Nudes
Cobra
100 Horses
Bow Down
Au Pays du Cocaine
Taxes
Long Island City Here I Come

Encore:

Trinidad

Source