ANNA LUCKS
On Saturday night, October 31st, 2026, Geese summoned the energy of a haunted Chicago.
Nearing the end of their Getting Killed Again Tour, Geese gifted the city with the honor of their annual Halloween concert. Fans began lining up at Salt Shed around 8am, and were completely wrapped around the venue by afternoon, sporting Geese-themed costumes, handing out spooky Geese-themed stickers, t-shirts, and even copies of the illustrious Geesezine (@geesezine on Instagram).
The holiday’s excitement, along with the rare blessing of a warm-ish Chicago Halloween, made the hours of waiting feel like one big fandom pregame. It’s no wonder that when Easy Star All-Stars came out—the night’s opener—they were greeted with a feverish welcome.
The reggae collective kept rock fans engaged by playing classics in their own reggae style: opening with Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” a unique take on MJ’s “Thriller,” and following with distinctive covers of Pink Floyd (“Breathe” “Time,” “Money,”) and Radiohead (“Let Down,” “Karma Police”). Joanne Williams’ unearthly rendition of Clare Torry’s famous “Great Gig” vocals, paired with reggae instrumental and Halloween zeal, chilled the bones of the sold-out audience. The irony of the performance was perfectly suited to Winter’s fans.
When Geese sauntered onto stage, sporting apparently last-minute costumes, the crowd pulled toward them like a magnet, predictably ambushing the stage for proximity to Winter, Green, DiGesu, and Bassin. In contrast to some fans’ hopeful predictions of an ambitious costume, Winter was wearing a bright yellow Salt Shed poncho—probably sourced from within the venue—over his routine white tank top. Drummer Bassin appeared to be Jesus with a crown of thorns. Guitarist Emily Green and bassist Dominic DiGesu were wearing outfits of blue and brown, respectively, which were later confirmed to be Regular Show characters by a fan in the front row who screamed “Mordecai and Rigby!” DiGesu gave perhaps his biggest smile of the night, nodding and pointing back at him, yelling, “Thank you!”
Geese calmly opened with “Long Island City Here I Come,” with Winter on the piano and Green sitting on an amp beside him, and Bassin and DiGesu matching their energy from across the stage. Winter began, “Nobody knows where they’re going,” gradually escalating the crowd into chanting the song’s mantra: “Here I come, here I come, here I come.” The band’s grounded composure persisted throughout “Cobra” and “Husbands,” continuing a remarkably stunning and unplugged tone.
Once Geese fully launched into the intensity of “Getting Killed” and “2122,” the crowd finally embraced their fate as a vehement mosh pit, fans forcefully embracing each other with excited, suffocating shoves. The reasoning for their initial approach became obvious: if this same power was combined with the initial adrenaline release of Geese’s entrance, it’s unnerving to imagine the resulting combustion.
The show’s setlist persisted in attempts to balance the crowd’s energy, alternating between antagonistic hits like “Crusades” with singalongs like “I See Myself,” where Winter delegated much of the chorus to fans, creating a tender exchange of fans pointing to him, emotionally thanking Winter with his own lyrics: “I see myself in you.” The moment became strikingly reminiscent of Dave Grohl singing Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” with fans (“There goes my hero / Watch him as he goes”).
“Cowboy Nudes” then passionately prefaced the confessional “Half Real,” where Winter sat earnestly at the keyboard, facing vulnerably away from fans while his famous vocals enveloped the venue. Although Winter doesn’t perform any songs from his solo career on tour, this song could fulfill the longing for one.
Afterward, the band transitioned into a heightened rock performance of “Bow Down.” Even with the crowd at its peak, Geese maintained an air of intimate equanimity, almost as if they were performing in their own basement. Winter’s interruptions were few and far between, limited to thanking the opener and once ensuring the safety of fans. Beside that, the extent of Winter’s commentary was, “I’m sheddin’ my costume,” receiving awkward laughs before commencing the chaos of “Bow Down” in a tank top.
Forgoing an encore, the band instead ended the set with three of their biggest hits: “Au Pays du Cocaine,” “Taxes,” and “Trinidad.” Fans, nowhere near tired, responded with peak moshing, several fanatics perilously crowdsurfing all the way to the barricade. Of course, “Trinidad” was the proper climax of the show, the audience climbing over each other to scream with Winter: “There’s a bomb in my car!”
When the beloved musicians exited, fans were left charged and fiending for more, forced into the remainder of Halloween holding the bomb that Winter threw: rock and roll, alive and well.
Check out Easy Star All-Stars:
Listen to Getting Killed:
Yours
Anna Lucks
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