Geese Plays Surprise DJ Set, Gets Serenaded by Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ in Toronto

Geese’s “Bieber Fever” is still going strong.

At the band’s first of two sold-out shows at HISTORY in Toronto last night (Nov. 3), the crowd was ready to show pride for their home country by belting out the lyrics to Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

It’s a callback to the group’s impromptu performance of the Canadian singer’s 2010 monster hit during Geese’s Coachella set earlier this year. The brief tongue-in-cheek cover came as a surprise to many for the buzzy breakout New York rock band.

While performing on Bieber’s home turf, Geese frontman Cameron Winter humoured the Toronto crowd by playing the guitar riff used in their rendition of “Baby." Very quickly, though, Winter abruptly stopped playing, telling them: “That’s enough of that.”

Geese’s set in Toronto continued on as usual, including a couple nods to Canadian rock group Rush.

During “2122,” Geese incorporated Rush’s “YYZ” instrumental into the performance, and doubled back on “Trinidad,” which included the outro of “YYZ.” Geese have been known to interpolate the 1981 hit into their live performances, and it was only fitting while performing in Rush’s hometown.

Riding the high of the first night in Toronto, two Geese members — Max Bassin and Emily Green — headed over to Sneaky’s Dees on College St., to play a surprise DJ set for fans. Announced earlier that day, tickets instantly sold out for the 250-person venue.

Bassin and Green played a slew of hits from the 20th century, including Sly & The Family Stone’s “Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle),” Beck’s “Devils Haircut,” The Beat’s “Save It for Later,” Talking Heads’ “Double Groove” and more.

While the aforementioned tracks were played through the venue’s sound system, some fans claimed that a USB error prompted the pair to start playing music directly from their phones.

In the summer, Geese took the stage at Osheaga in Montreal, and further solidified their love for Canada. They led a singalong to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah,” and as they geared up for another song, Winter said, "this is a song called Angine de Poitrine," before briefly imitating the Quebec duo’s microtonal style.

Meanwhile, Winter's solo concert film, Live at Carnegie Hall, will play at multiple theatres across Canada this winter, including Toronto's TIFF Lightbox, Vancouver's Cinematheque and Montreal's Cinematheque Quebecoise.

Joined by opener Gwenifer Raymond, Geese will play a second night at HISTORY tonight (Nov. 4).