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“Everybody say ‘Free Palestine!’” Noname demands during an a capella rendition of the war-condemning, materialism-bashing track ‘Namesake’. With candor and eagerness, the crowd instantly obliges and a unified chant echoes and bounces off the walls of the west London venue. A smile flashes across her face, before she continues rapping the rest of the track: “Watch the fighter jet fly high, War machine gets glamorised”.
Noname’s newest album ‘Sundial’, released in 2023, is her third full-length project, succeeding 2018 breakout ‘Room 25’ and 2016 debut mixtape ‘Telefone’. But, after announcing that she wanted to quit music in 2019, yet sporadically releasing tracks, and also cancelling her long-anticipated 2021 album – her first tour in four years is a welcome treat for fans in the UK who are eager to know what’s next. “Who’s been here since ‘Telefone’?” she asks the crowd mid-set as thousands of voices scream back at her. She pauses, and thanks her audience for their support.
To the joy of her dedicated fans, the set is tastefully sprinkled with tracks spanning her entire discography and works. She cheekily raps J Cole diss track ‘Song 33’, hops around stage during Sundial track ‘Boomboom’, eagerly evokes crowd reaction during ‘Rainforest’ and sways with joy during encore closer ‘Shadowman’.
But most notably, the crowd is particularly receptive to many of Noname’s outwardly political lyrics. During set opener ‘Self’, the crowd scream the lyric “my pussy wrote a thesis in colonialism”; during ‘Sundial track’ ‘hold me down’, the crowd-sung lyric “first Black President and he the one that bombed us” feels louder than all others. Perhaps this impassioned chanting of lyrics it’s a reflection of our polarised political climate, or maybe it’s pure admiration for Noname’s audacious and earnest writing skills. From the atmosphere felt in the pit, it’s a healthy mix of both.
In 2019, Noname also expressed her frustration around performing to predominantly white crowds and during her return to London this evening she comments on the audience being “more white than expected”. However upon calls for Black people in the crowd, especially women, there’s a multitude of cheers roaring from across the pit and seated area, potentially signifying a slow shift in demographics from her shows in the 2010s.
At times the sound mix in the room leaves looks of disappointment across the audience hall. We’re keen to pick apart at the nuances of Noname’s tone and delivery of words – her lyricism is what helped propel her to mainstream spaces – but we’re instead met with bleeding sound from the speakers and words missed entirely. Although, this does not take away from the effort of Noname and her entire band. Her status as a multi-hyphenate performer, musician, and slam poet is solidified during this show; her dynamic stage presence and control, self-awareness, and ability to tell stories through performance keeps all eyes on her throughout.
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“I received plenty of comments saying it was far too soon to ‘go solo’,” Geese frontman Cameron Winter told NME last year while reflecting on how people initially reacted to his decision to branch out on his own. “Most likely because a lot of folks assume that ‘solo albums’ only happen once a band has passed its peak and that they usually feel like uninspired cash grabs.”
Honestly, everyone is trying to earn a living however they can these days, yet no one expected a Geese side project to generate any real financial payoff in 2024. “Just so you know,” he went on, “my solo album is different: because barely anyone knows my band, I am young and comfortable living with my parents and I have the freedom to follow any ideas that interest me.”
Brooklyn indie followers and former NME cover stars Geese were gaining real momentum when their second album ‘3D Country’ mixed cowboy psychedelia with a jazzy, art-punk energy that had already captured the attention of many UK 6 Music dads back in 2023, but who could have predicted what came next? Geese have become one of the most talked-about bands of 2025 and are expected to dominate multiple end-of-year lists with the ambitious and full-range rock of ‘Getting Killed’. Yet the moment that set the stage for this rise was Winter’s Lou Reed-inspired debut solo record ‘Heavy Metal’.
A handful of late-night US television appearances and a spot on Jools Holland acted as a welcoming doorway for the world to see what this 23-year-old can do far beyond what many twice or three times his age are capable of. Now the sold-out Roundhouse audience made up of indie teens, art school regulars, fans who traveled across Europe and seasoned listeners reacts with a collective breath as a slight opening in the stage curtain reveals the silhouette of Winter seated at a piano. First comes a spark of excitement, then a sudden hush.
There is no flashy social media moment, no chatter overriding the music and almost no sea of raised phones. There is a sincerity to how the night unfolds. The Geese singer barely turns toward the audience. “Turn around!” someone calls out from the balcony at one stage. “Is this not enough for you all?” Winter teases back. For some, maybe it was more than enough. At least four people appear to faint around the warm and crowded Roundhouse while the room stands in absolute focus as Winter moves through the dreamlike storytelling of ‘Try As I May’, the emotional swirl of ‘The Rolling Stones’, the bright lift of ‘Love Takes Miles’ and the sermon-like stomp of ‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’. When he reaches the intense and spiritually charged ‘$0’, even the most skeptical hipster might be convinced that “I’m not kidding, God is actually real”. In that moment, it feels as though we all understand.
The entire performance can be summed up in how ‘Drinking Age’ unfolds. It starts softly with a gentle touch on the keys before erupting into a thunderous attack on the Steinway that could echo into next year, followed by a long, open cry aimed toward the sky. Winter somehow manages to blend something minimal with something enormous, something grounded with something cosmic, a delicate approach that hits with staggering force as he reaches toward ideas of existence, heaven, hell and everything surrounding them.
Winter could recite the phone book and still leave a crowd stunned. He carries the spirit of a post-punk Rufus Wainwright you can play alongside The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, a Gen Z Tom Waits for listeners exhausted by TikTok overload, a new Nick Cave who arrives at exactly the moment he is needed. His voice feels older than his years yet perfectly suited to express the concerns and emotions of his own generation.
We will continue praising Geese endlessly because they deserve it. They are an extraordinary burst of musical creativity that goes far beyond what their lineup would ever imply, and along with Fontaines D.C., they are poised to become one of the decade’s essential bands. Still, tonight offers something quieter and more intimate. Cameron Winter stands completely on his own power, talent and magnetism, proving himself a rising force who can hold an entire room with only his voice, a piano and an entire future waiting for him.
‘Try as I May’
‘Emperor XIII in Shades’
‘The Rolling Stones’
‘Love Takes Miles’
‘Drinking Age’
‘Serious World’
‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’
‘If You Turn Back Now’
‘Vines’
‘Nina + Field of Cops’
‘$0’
‘Take It With You’
‘Cancer of the Skull’
