Despite the “no crowd surfing” rule, Geese’s music enlivened the crowd to the point that someone felt bold enough to break such a rule. The foot of the crowd surfer is visible above the heads of the crowd as Geese and Cameron Winter perform.
Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
On Thursday, October 23rd, the Viking Union was abuzz as Western students, Bellingham residents, and people from across county, state, and international borders began to line up in front of the Multipurpose Room [MPR] at 2:00pm to wait until 7:30pm when the doors would open, and they would flock in to see the NYC-based band Geese, along with their opening band, Michigan-based Racing Mount Pleasant.
When asked how they were feeling in anticipation of the show starting, Cole Madeoy, who lives in Seattle, and Kooper Glesener, a Western student, said they were feeling “pretty electric.”
Glesener—who found Geese through Heavy Metal, a solo album released by Geese’s lead singer Cameron Winter last year—initially saw promotion for the show and “thought it was pretty cool that they were coming to [his] campus.” He added, “I was like ‘I’ll buy tickets, they're relatively cheap too, like, 30 bucks, like, hell yeah.’”
Geese fans started lining up at 2:00pm so that they could get as close as possible. Attendees stood right up against the barricade, hanging their arms the edge as they waited for Geese to come on stage.
Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
When Arts and Music Productions [AMP] announced the concert through an Instagram post on September 17th, suddenly it seemed like everyone in the Western, Bellingham, and Geese communities were talking about how Geese was going to play at Western.
Max Warborg, a Western student, said he first heard of Geese through his roommates, who have been into Cameron Winter’s solo work for a long time, but that he “didn’t really know about them until everyone was like ‘you need to go see this, like, right now, like, everyone's talking about this.’”
Some attendees, like Western student Abe Vandevender, got into the music of Geese through the promotion of the show. He said, “Honestly, I bought the tickets before I'd even listened to them and then I actually got into them and listened to their latest two albums and really liked them.”
Geese perform on stage in the Viking Union’s MPR. [Left to Right] Geese’s drummer Max Bassin, lead singer and guitarist Cameron Winter, keyboardist Sam Revas, and bassist Dominic DiGesu.
Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
The hype was so monumental that it drew a crowd from all over, like Becca Holdhusen, a government employee currently on furlough, who was able to come all the way from Montana to see the show with her friend Ben Perkel.
Holdhusen said, “I wanted to come see them while they were on tour and the Seattle and Vancouver shows were, like, obscenely expensive—$1,200 resale tickets. This show was like [...] $200 resale tickets, [...] now they're less. They were crazy. This was the cheapest one.”
Geese announced their North American tour on their Instagram on Monday, June 23rd, and when tickets went on sale on the following Friday, June 27th, they sold out shortly after. So, when tickets went on sale for the show at Western on September 26th—the same day that Geese released their fourth studio album, Getting Killed—they promptly sold out within a week.
Cole Madeoy said he wanted to see the band play at their show in Seattle, but couldn’t get a ticket before they sold out. He said, “A good friend of mine [...] let me know that they were playing here. We were like, ‘well, it's only a two hour drive.’ So, here we are.”
Racing Mount Pleasant, formerly known as Kingfisher, opened the show. The band can be seen playing on the MPR stage above the heads of the crowd. Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
Ben Perkel, who lives in Bellingham, said, “I’m excited to see them so close. I feel like in a year from now I would have to pay like eight times the amount to be this close to them.”
Bringing bands like Geese to play at Western makes seeing bigger shows more accessible for people who might not get to see them otherwise.
Ulf Dehn, from Vancouver, British Columbia, came down to Bellingham with his daughter so she could see the band. He said, “She really likes Geese [...] she couldn't get in the [Vancouver] show—she's too young, [but] here it is allowed.”
Elana Boushell, a Bellingham resident, said “I think it's important to give people opportunity to see bigger shows in smaller areas because it doesn't happen a lot and it sucks to have to drive to a city and pay more just to go see a show. So, it's cool for bigger names to come here.
Cole Watson, a Western student, said that when he saw the poster for the show he thought “Holy shit, that’s a big band,” and luckily was able to get tickets for him and his friend, Eli Corey.
Cameron Winter belted into the mic as Geese played their opening song Husbands from their new album, Getting Killed. [Left to Right] Geese’s guitarist Emily Green and lead singer Cameron Winter, also playing guitar.
Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
Such a big band, in fact, that fans Max Warborg, Elana Boushell, Joe Hornor, and Olivia Van Ness, who were unable to get tickets before they sold out, sat outside the doors to the MPR just to catch a glimpse of the show, but were let in by the bands’ tour manager once Geese had started playing.
Elana Boushell said that she and her friend Van Ness had been waiting outside since at least 4:00pm before they were let in, adding, “I mean, it's just cool that they're in Bellingham. I had no idea, and I was like, ‘might as well come check it out.’”
Joe Hornor, a Western student, said “I feel fantastic. Yeah, we were waiting outside for like an hour and a half, and we were fine with that because we love Geese, but somebody just let us in for free and it's fantastic.
“I think [shows like this] are extremely important because Western students are also, like, the greatest set of people ever and I feel like everybody here is very interactive with other people and it's a really good atmosphere. I feel like if there's good music it brings us together even more.”
A student stands amongst other concert-goers up against the barricade, waiting with her phone ready to record the moment when Geese comes out on stage. Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
Shows like this at Western are crucial for bringing the community together and collectively getting people excited for an event that seems otherwise unlikely in our “city of subdued excitement.”
Becca Holdhusen said, “I'm just excited to be in a crowd of people who are really excited to see a concert, which can sometimes feel rare these days.”
AMP and KUGS-FM employee Sylvia London, who worked the event, said she thought the sound check was good, and that people would have a good time. “Everyone who's here is really, really, really excited to be here [...] It's gonna be awesome—a night to remember.”
“There’s a lot of musical roots [at Western and in Bellingham]—Beastie Boys, Death Cab for Cutie obviously, Stereo Lab, [and] Indigo DeSousa, they've all performed here,” said Western student Max Warborg. “These big indie artists have all been here and done stuff like this. The underground music scene is so big here, it’s such a big deal [that] I feel like this stuff is so important to continue and keep doing.”
Even though Racing Mount Pleasant opened for Geese, some attendees said they were just as excited for their set as they were for Geese’s. [Left to Right] Tenor saxophonist Samuel Uribe Botero, alto saxophonist Connor Hoyt, and string player Kaysen Chown playing guitar. Photo taken by Molly Shoffner for Wavelength, 2025.
Bands like Geese and their opener, Racing Mount Pleasant, bring together a wide range of people through one common interest: an appreciation for the music. With the current state of the world, people at Western, in Bellingham, or anywhere can find themselves feeling isolated and hopeless at times, but bringing together community through music like Geese’s can help to revive the perspective of hope, initiative, and joy.
Sources:
Racing Mount Pleasant’s Instagram
Racing Mount Pleasant’s Website
