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1. Geese Live At The Amsterdam Bar & Grill in St. Paul, Minnesota, October 18 About two-thirds into this gig, one member of the Brooklyn indie band’s intensely locked-in audience exclaimed, “Cameron fucking Winter!” It was during a break between songs, so everybody heard it. Some laughed, but at least one person protested. With perfect timing, they shouted, “There’s other people, too!” The exchange echoed a familiar refrain — one that I’ve made myself — amid the ecstatic response to Getting Killed, the third Geese LP that already feels like a lock for “album of the year” status in 2025, at least among indie listeners. The album’s reception had been primed for months in advance by lead singer Cameron Winter’s solo record Heavy Metal, which arrived last December with little fanfare before gradually (and then quickly) becoming a word-of-mouth sensation. Before then, Geese was adrift in terms of critical and popular esteem, despite putting out one of the more exhilarating rock records in recent memory with 2023’s 3D Country, But after Heavy Metal, they were suddenly a hot property, though in the minds of some in attendance they were, apparently, The Cameron Winter Band. (Or, I guess, The Cameron Fucking Winter Band.) But they’re not that. Geese is… Geese, a real unit in the classic “I thought they didn’t make ’em like this anymore” sense. They are also the band right now. That’s clear from the combustive alchemy achieved on Getting Killed, but it’s doubly apparent if you’re lucky enough to catch one of their remarkable live gigs this fall. 2. Mitski: The Land In this fascinating concert film, shot over three shows last year in Atlanta, we see the enigmatic indie-pop star move about a starkly decorated stage alone, with members of her excellent seven-piece band situated on the outer edges. On film, director Grant James takes a cue from Andi Watson’s minimalist stage design by emphasizing Mitski’s singularity, framing her at a remove from the audience and her fellow musicians. She is, in almost every shot, holding all our attention; When James cuts to the band, he keeps her out of the frame. Otherwise, Mitski’s most prominent on-screen co-stars are the two chairs she deploys as props at center stage. It’s a fascinating contrast with the biggest concert film of the decade, 2023’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. That movie is designed to show off the enormity of the subject’s fame, with endless sweeping overhead stadium shots where tens of thousands of delirious Swifties genuflect at the altar of Taylor. It is meant to be a worshipful monument to Taylor Swift As One-Woman Monoculture, a representation of Pop Fandom As Community. But Mitski, as she said, is a woman apart. In The Land, she’s building a world, her own world. And she’s inviting you to watch her move through that world. Though, importantly, she doesn’t necessarily extend that invitation to join her there.
