Geese Brings Halloween Chaos to Quartyard with Support from Dove Ellis
With a sold-out show and a Halloween lineup featuring Dove Ellis and Geese, Quartyard became a gathering place for San Diego’s most eccentric music lovers and devoted fans. With two artists known for their experimental, offbeat sound, the atmosphere was ripe for an evening of connection and rumination.
The night kicked off with Dove Ellis, a musical jack of all trades hailing from the west of Ireland, joined by drummer Jake Brown and saxophonist Fred Donlon-Mansbridge. Despite having only three songs released, Ellis and his band earned their spot opening for Geese on their U.S. tour — a testament to his sheer talent. Performing tracks from his debut project Pale Song / Love Is, Ellis delivers a sound that blends elements of chamber pop, punk, and folk into something entirely his own. Though still early in his career, he’s already drawn comparisons to Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. Between the soft percussion, piercing saxophone, and haunting falsettos that seemed to vibrate straight out of raw emotion, Ellis proved that even with a small catalog, he’s an artist to watch.
By the time Geese took the stage, the crowd was buzzing with anticipation. Formed in Brooklyn in 2016, the band consists of Cameron Winter on vocals, keyboard, and guitar; Dominic DiGesu on bass; Max Bassin on drums; and Emily Green on guitar. Having known each other since high school, their chemistry is effortless — a mix of familiarity and comfort that fuels their onstage chaos and spontaneity.
Known for their genre-blurring mix of post-punk, art rock, and psychedelia, Geese speaks to the restless energy of young people in modern America. Their music is brimming with themes of angst, loneliness, and existential dread, often wrapped in surreal metaphors and biting societal critiques. Winter’s poetic yet sharp lyricism swings between cryptic and vulnerable, delivered with a desperation that makes every line hit close to home.
A standout moment came during their performance of “Au Pays du Cocaine” off their recent album Getting Killed. Security guards braced the barricades as the crowd noticeably surged forward, lured in by the song’s hypnotic and raw melodies, giving way to topics of escapism and fractured relationships. Geese-shaped balloons and crowd-surfers alike were launched into the air, and it looked and felt as though everyone was interpreting the song in their own twisted, beautiful ways. It was a reminder of what live music does best — bringing together people from all walks of life to share in one collective pulse.
After returning for an encore, Geese brought the night to a close. After a swift exit, the band could be seen lighting up backstage as flames from lighters and cigarettes flickered through the thin fabric that separated the band from the crowd. As fans in Halloween masks and absurd costumes reluctantly dispersed out into the night, the ground was left scattered with feathers, glitter, and remnants of the chaos that had filled The Quartyard.