Eva Moe

Tag: cameron winter

  • Review: Cameron Winter at Rockefeller Chapel 12/17/2025

    Right now it’s 1/29/2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Alex Pretti was murdered on Saturday, and on Sunday I joined an ICE watch zoom training. Tonight, an old friend of mine will give me a refresher on gun safety. This is a terrible introduction to a Cameron Winter show review but just hold on. Most of my time now is spent thinking about what skills I must acquire for the revolution, and then learning them. There’s no need for tinfoil; you know what’s happening. Does paper beat bullet? All I have is a pen. And as much as I love my Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.5mm, I’m not sure it’s mightier than an AR-15.

    Camera back on Cameron. It was a brisk day in Chicago on December 17th, 2025. He was set to play at Rockefeller Chapel, so my friend and I took a flight down to see him. As we hopped on local transit, we could guess with 100% accuracy who else was headed to our destination. What are we called, new hipster white people? I’m surprised I did not find my doppelganger (where are you?!).

    Reports from Geese Nation’s discord server (Geesecord) said the first fans got in line in the morning. More showed up in the afternoon. By the time we got there a half hour before doors, the line was down the block. Out in the cold to see a man and a piano.

    Inside, sconces line the walls and the chapel’s ceiling stretches to a deep point, with iron lanterns hanging down. I told Geesecord I was wearing a bright green sweater and stood up, hoping someone would see me among the dark pews and I could make a new pal. And it worked! We met up by the entrance after the show. Being part of an online community and getting to meet those people in real life is truly one of the internet’s greatest blessings. Now I have another friend in Texas!

    I’ve been fortunate enough to see Geese perform twice, and was therefore super excited to see the kind of energy Cameron Winter would bring to a solo set. He switches the lyrics sometimes and you’re almost guaranteed to get a different melody than the studio recording. This is why Geese Nation has an archivist (s/o Emily!) and also why a live show is vital for a fan to see! I can only assume Cameron’s stage presence was lovely this time as well. Since I was in the middle with many heads to dodge in front of me, only one of my eyes was able to see him at any given time. Thank God I have two.

    The whole thing was beautiful start to finish, but there’s only one part I replay again and again in my mind.

    At the end of $0, after the God is Real part, he finishes the lyrics and it’s just the piano. The audience was captive the whole time. But now, we held our breath, quiet as the ceiling. The lanterns looked warmer and somehow even the air was soft, like how it feels to stay inside and watch the snow fall. A tear fell down to my neck. And as he hit the final chord, sniffling began around me. Applause broke out and many of us pulled out tissues to wipe our eyes and laugh. “I’m cryin’ right now haha,” someone said behind me.

    Cameron debuted a new song called “It’s Being Waited For,” which has a great line about a milkman. For the encore he played my personal favorite, “If You Turn Back Now.” Almost half of the songs were unreleased and yes, the next album is going to rule.

    He left the stage to a standing ovation. I left the concert feeling lighter and a little dizzy. Almost two months have passed since then. ICE has ransacked my city and murdered my neighbors, and the illusion of safety has been shattered once again. But whenever the need arises, I can close my eyes and return to that moment when I cried at church with other Cameron Winter fans. And for a moment I remember peace.

    Maybe next time I’ll get to see him with both eyes at the same time. Until then, the live recordings will tide me over.

    With love,
    Eva Moe

  • Favorite Albums 2025

    Spotify is OUT, analogue is IN. This year, the full-length album has returned to my interests. I used to listen to albums straight through, but ever since around 2015 dropped the practice entirely. Singles and playlists became my norm, and I hadn’t really cared to sit with anyone’s full album since probably Tyler, The Creator’s IGOR. Stale behavior, I know.

    Inspired by former Geese member Foster Hudson, I returned to my senses and made an effort to listen to more albums in their entirety and was handsomely rewarded. This year, the one that means the most is of course Cameron Winter’s Heavy Metal. If you’ve read any of my “What I’m Listening To Lately” posts since the spring, you’d already know!

    This summer I gathered a decent vinyl set-up (baby’s first turntable) and began the expensive hobby of collecting albums. There are only so many paychecks in a year, but here are the albums that meant the most to me in 2025.

    7. Gustav Holst – The Planets [CD not pictured, it was in my car and I didn’t want to go get it. Cold AF out there] (1918)
    The first performance of this was in 1918. Since then, countless orchestras across time and space have performed this absolute banger orchestral suite. If you’re a fan of King Crimson’s “The Devil’s Triangle,” you’ve already heard some Holst. Listen to Mars before a battle. Listen to Jupiter after you’ve won.

    6. Hayden Pedigo – Letting Go (2021)
    Favorite track: Carthage. My dad used to play a classical guitar when I was a kid, and I’d sit nearby and listen, daydreaming about train travel. His arthritis is too bad to play these days, but hearing Hayden brings me back to that time of peace. I was fortunate enough to see him perform last month, and it’s every bit as restful and restorative as I hoped for. Listen on a nature walk.

    5. Nina Simone – I Put a Spell on You (1965)
    Favorite track: “Tomorrow Is My Turn.” The way she sings reminds me of the Dr. Maya Angelou quote, “One of the things I do when I step up on a stage…I bring everyone who has ever been kind to me with me.” Nina Simone sings with aura. Like anyone who’s ever loved her is in the room. Listen when you know who you want to be.

    4. Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1971)
    Favorite track: “One of These Things First.” Reminds me of a Kazuo Ishiguro quote, “There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” Listen when you don’t know who you want to be.

    3. Geese – 3D Country (2023)
    Some of these songs you can sing your lil heart out to, and then sometimes you just have to stare into the distance as you hear “Some people are alone forever.” The whole album feels the way playing pretend did when you were a kid. “St. Elmo” sounds like cowboys in a bar fight, and Domoto sounds like the shift between the fun of daydreams and harsh reality. Listen when you need fresh air, or to feel like a kid again.

    2. Geese – Getting Killed (2025)
    Without explaining myself in any way, this album showed me the effectiveness of a well-written email, and for that I am eternally grateful. As it’s the only album in my list released in 2025, it’s the closest I’ve been able to get to entering modern culture. Listen when you’re lost.

    1. Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal (2024)
    Listen when you’re tired in a way that sleep can’t fix. I’ve scattered praise of this album across the internet and tugged anyone’s sleeves who would let me. Eva you are being insufferable about this damn album. Yes but this time it’s okay. You’d think the 2 essays I wrote about Getting Killed were inspired by Getting Killed. No. I’m only an essayist because of Heavy Metal.

    First Listen: May 18, 2025. I stopped playing Spider Solitaire & found my friend in the other room. I knew what to do. I’m an essayist now, too & the drummer & frontman of 2 bands. I take voice lessons & buy myself flowers. A record player’s in the corner – no dust. Yes! I know what to do & have the will to do it. Thank you! – Eva

  • 8/27/2025 What I’m listening to lately

    Music. It’s what dreams are made of. There’s something strange in the air but let’s not talk about it yet. Things are changing in my life, and here’s what I’ve been listening to while that happens.

    1. VINYL! I have a record player set up now complete with bookshelf speakers, an old Audio-Technica turntable, and an Onkyo receiver. The bookshelf speakers are not resting on the same table as the turntable anymore, worry not. I only have about 10 records, 2 of which are from bands I was in. Vinyl is like $20-40 new though and takes up space, so it’s a highly selective process. You better believe I’ve got Heavy Metal and 3D Country. Torn between preordering Geese’s upcoming Getting Killed or buying it from the merch table at their show. I want a signed copy!
    2. Cameron Winter’s unreleased “Leave Me Alone/If You Turn Back Now” – As soon as I heard this. Leaned back in my chair and sighed. What am I supposed to do now.
    3. “100 Horses” by Geese – particularly fond of the line “But we have danced for too long / We have danced for far too long and now I must change completely” and yes it’s because of the Winds of Change in my life rn
    4. Bryter Layter and Pink Moon by Nick Drake – Just getting into Nick Drake for the first time. My current favorite is “One of These Things First“.
    5. RadioK.org – I used to work there, and it’s one of the first places I turn to when it’s time to branch out. I requested “For Ella” by Friko but they vetoed it because it was too sad. Fair. Now that I have an actual radio, it’s tuned to 100.7 FM <3 Twin Cities, baby!
    6. Gustav Holst’s “Mars“ – It. Does. Not. Fucking. Miss. Some strange remix was playing at the Electric Fetus, and the store guy said it was “The Devil’s Triangle” by King Crimson. Right on. When it’s time to lose your smile and do what must be done, Mars will give you strength.

    Stay bold. Stay passionate.
    Eva

  • 8/5/25 What I’m Listening To Lately

    Most of this was exclusively what I needed to assist me with the Geese essay. Music, ASMR, an audiobook, and now I’m worming my way back to Japanese immersion and other music.

    1. “Taxes” by Geese. Well of course. Though after I finished the essay, it has been on the shelf. Perhaps a deep dive was an overindulgence in the food of this song, and I may never be able to taste it the same way again. Who’s to say.
    2. FrivolousFox’s background ASMR. I haven’t watched this video and can’t even tell you what all the triggers are. But whenever this plays, I immediately lock in. Oddly, no other video has worked this time. Usually a pomodoro will do it, but no. Can’t even be Frivvy’s other videos. Gotta be This. One.
    3. “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson – audiobook from Libby. I was super stuck with my essay and figured I better return to Emerson for help, as I haven’t read him since high school. I was into the transcendentalists back then and am pleased I can actually understand what he’s talking about now. The audiobook is only an hour, so give it a shot!
    4. Heavy Metal by Cameron Winter. I worry that one day I’ll listen to this album and it’ll sound like the summer I was stuck in traffic.
    5. “Trinidad” by Geese. Couldn’t get a more perfect song for a drive to work with the windows down. Cameron Winter released/leaked it – there’s speculation that it was a cute thing to do for hardcore fans – 4 days before the official release. I lucked out and hopped on his IG live during his announcement. Being a fan of people who are both real and still alive is pretty neat!
    6. Furen-san’s Let’s Play of Supermarket Simulator Now that the wave of insanity has quelled, I am slowly inching my way back to Japanese immersion. Haven’t started up Anki again this month. Wondering if I’ll take the JLPT in December after all.
    7. Cut Worms by Cut Worms. This album’s only 35 minutes and it’s perfect for a drive or a walk. It sounds old, but it’s from 2023! Notably, this is the only non-Geese music I’ve been able to sink into in recent months. On repeat: “Is it Magic?” and “Let’s Go Out On The Town” (does someone wanna dance with me to this song?)

    That’ll do it for this round!
    See ya later,
    Eva

  • What I’m listening to this week 7/07

    707 LOL. I like when numbers do that. 808 BOB.

    Lately I’ve been listening to Sarah Chang again. She’s got a special place in my heart, because when I first started playing the violin at 8, my grandma gave me her 1992 Debut. It was a little girl (Chang) on the front cover not much older than me, and she was playing violin with such ease and mastery. That album had Sarasate’s Carmen on it, which I recognized from an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog. I thought this was scary as hell so naturally I kept listening to it.

    Here’s what’s been going on in my ears this week:

    1. Sarah Chang – Pablo de Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy . The story of the opera (Bizet) is wild. It’s an opera, though. Someone’s gotta die.
    2. Sarah Chang – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It goes hard when you hear it in its own context, rather than whatever dumbass commercial it’s slapped across.
    3. Sarah Chang – The Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor. Had me crying tears of awe in my apartment at midnight after 4th of July. You can’t keep me away from Sarah Chang’s music! You cannot!
    4. Scott Walker – his album Scott 4. My first foray into his music. I liked The Seventh Seal (based on Ingmar Bergman’s movie of the same name) for both the wrong reason and the right one. Right reason: I like chess and songs that have stories in them. Wrong reason: I thought this was named after Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. Which is a movie I have seen recently. Which has a different name than the song. Which has nothing to do with chess.
    5. Cameron Winter’s Heavy Metal. Same as last week and the month before. Bought the vinyl this week, don’t have a record player.

    Idk if this is more or less depressing than the last time I did this. Either way, new Geese music drops tomorrow. Hell yeah.

    See you soon,
    Eva