Bonnaroo 2026 Artist Spotlight: Geese

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2026 lineup. A pivotal year for the fest, this summer’s ‘Roo will see some significant changes after last year’s unfortunate rainout, including infrastructure improvements, a scaled-back capacity, and a smaller lineup (notably, cutting down Thursday’s programming the most). We’ll have to wait until we’re on the farm to feel the full extent of the changes and tweaks, but we’re cautiously optimistic that it will benefit the fest in the long-term, especially in helping make the site more resistant to weather. This will be Bonnaroo’s 23rd installment and 25th anniversary, and even with a more compact lineup, it packs a pretty stellar, eclectic slate of artists, per usual. Back once again in its dependable June 11-14 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest! Be sure to grab your tickets (available in weekend or single-day, with various upgrade levels and add-ons) and camping or parking pass (also available with a lot of flexible options and levels), and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

One of the coolest young bands to emerge from New York this decade, frenetic indie rock outfit Geese met and began making music in 2016, while high school freshmen. Their early years were your typical teen band story (albeit as native New Yorkers rather than suburbanites), practicing in their drummer’s basement, recording demos, and playing only small and under the radar performances. They had initially planned to disband in 2020, upon graduation and with just one self-released album to their name, but after dropping some demos online, they were surprised to be met with near-instant buzz, prompting interest from multiple taste-making indie labels, and ultimately landing them a deal with Partisan Records, putting school on pause to pursue music more seriously. The young band’s label debut, Projector, arrived in 2021, largely the product of those basement recording sessions from 2019 and 2020, attracting buzz online and from the trendy side of music media, comparing the group’s expansive post-punk style to everyone from Television to The Strokes to Parquet Courts to Radiohead (a diverse range that shows just how eclectic their sound is). Their buzz would grow as would the size of their performances, but not content to simply rest on expectations, the rockers ramped up their live show to be more unpredictable and propulsive, and radically revamped their style with 2023 sophomore label effort 3D Country (and subsequent companion EP 4D Country), building on the foundation of their debut but funneling it through elements of country, blues, prog rock, jazz, and psychedelia; sweeping and inhibited and oddball, sounding like a whole different band from track to track. The reception was again rapturous, positioning Geese- barely in their 20s- as one of the most interesting new bands in rock, and attracting a whole new wave of passionate young fans. Following a brief diversion for frontman Cameron Winter to release a solo album, Heavy Metal, in late 2024, a strange and stripped-down and ubiquitously praised effort which brought even more attention to both Winter and Geese (Winter would’ve made his solo debut at last year’s ‘Roo, if not the the rainout), with the band regrouping last summer for third label effort Getting Killed, their best-received, most culturally resonant work to date. Continuing the musical exploration of 3D Country, the record is an eclectic fusion of art rock, indie rock, psychedelia, jazz, and post-punk, and feels like something of a midpoint between their prior two efforts. Now buzzier than ever, the band are selling out bigger and bigger venues around the globe, made their SNL debut earlier this year, and return to Bonnaroo not as that scrappy indie band we urged you to see two summers ago, but as surely one of the most hotly-anticipated acts of the weekend.

WATCH | “Au Pays du Cocaine” (Official Video)

LISTEN | “I See Myself”

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