Show Review: Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall, NYC.
December 11th, 2025.
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David conquers Goliath — God is real.
December 12th, 2025
Gen Z has conquered Carnegie. Cameron Winter, one of music’s hottest young artists, is wrapping up his 2025 campaign with his final few solo shows — and this one being in his home city is all the more full-circle. The 23-year-old released his first solo album Heavy Metal last December, and it has gone on to become a cult classic. Winter appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Later... with Jools Holland this year, performing tracks off that album. While he was finding his own success with Heavy Metal, his band Geese released their third album Getting Killed in September, which has gone on to be another highly rated album of the year.
While Geese comes with a more rock-forward approach to music, Winter’s solo music blends elements of folk, alternative pop, and avant-garde lyrics and structure. Both spheres of his work have generated considerable popularity, specifically amongst younger listeners, and is what led him to take the center-stage in a one-man-one-piano performance at the famous Carnegie Hall. Walking into the historic theater, it was genuinely shocking to see the seemingly ubiquitous crowd of young, thrift-store clad attendees that flock to see Winter live.
Winter sported all-black in traditional Carnegie fashion, and walked out to the piano like any routine performer would. He opened with an unreleased track, and went on to play two others throughout the set — the rest being songs off of Heavy Metal. The scene was polarizing. Winter played with his back to the crowd, and the lighting flowed from spotlight, to darkness, to full light depending on the mood of each track. Altering each track slightly, Winter took liberties finding empty space in each song to truly suck the audience into the energetic highs and tender lows each tune offered.
In the midst of a highly emotional and provoking set, Winter also toyed with the audience — purely messing around on certain tunes, or throwing some whimsical stretching moves around between songs, bringing laughter from the crowd. I was seated at the back of the hall, and I noticed that there were some high-dollar cameras and crews taping the performance. Midway through Winter’s eclectic song Nina + Field of Cops, a massive movie camera was rolled right in front of Winter, by none other than famous directors Paul Thomas Anderson and Benny Safdie. Can’t wait to see what they produce.
Winter’s brilliant performance was capped off by minutes of a standing ovation, to which he then returned to close out the night with his somber, gorgeous tune Take It With You. It was one of the most unique, memorable sets I’ve ever seen, and one that will be talked about for time to come. And who knows, maybe there will even be a movie about the whole thing.
Cameron Winter is the first young artist to truly captivate this generation’s creative bunch. His performance was heartfelt, emotional, and playful. It’s inspiring to see so many young people bond behind such a talented musician, especially one that they can feel commonality and connection between. While waiting in the lobby after the show ended, I caught the legendary R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe on his way out of the venue — adding to the star-studded roster of supporters for Winter and Geese. Selling out Carnegie Hall is no small feat. It will be magnetizing to watch how Winter continues to evolve his art over the coming years. Rrrat Pack was just here.
| Keywords: | New York City | Cameron Winter | Gease | Carnegie Hall |
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