By Liam Isola 
Cameron Winter and his band Geese have been seemingly everywhere recently. Winter, a 24-year old indie musician from Brooklyn, had an unlikely success with his late 2024 album Heavy Metal. Then, Geese released Getting Killed in 2025 to rave reviews, raucous crowds, and worldwide success.
Getting Killed was my top album of 2025. It’s still been in my heavy rotation in the opening months of 2026 too. Since GK was released, Geese have toured tirelessly, and Cameron Winter has played plenty of solo shows during the intermittent breaks.
Rapid Rise to Stardom
Winter’s unconventional songwriting approach and unique voice are off-putting to some. Still, plenty of people are worshipping him as this generation’s best singer-songwriter as well. In fact, in December, Winter became one of the youngest people to headline Carnegie Hall.
The cheapest resale tickets for Winter’s Carnegie Hall show were more than $600. The hype around Winter has gotten so massive that Saturday Night Live parodied him.
If you haven’t given his solo album a listen, I would highly recommend it. “Love Takes Miles” is an absolutely timeless track. In my opinion, it’s one of the most sincere odes to love in quite some time.
I was lucky enough to see Cameron Winter perform with Geese in Brooklyn in November, and it was a captivating experience. I wish any modern music detractors could have been there to see Geese and their brilliant openers, Dove Ellis and Racing Mount Pleasant. That night, it certainly felt like rock was still alive and well.
So, I started researching tickets for Winter’s solo shows. I quickly realized it would be futile to try to get tickets for any of his performances in the US. However, I noticed he had some sets scheduled at festivals in other countries.
Cameron Winter in Brazil
The lineup for Sao Paulo’s C6 Fest in May seemed exciting, with Winter, Magdalena Bay, Wolf Alice, Dijon, Oklou, and others. I also noticed that Winter’s set is not part of the main festival. It is actually a separately-ticketed event in an indoor venue.
Winter’s chaotic piano ballads aren’t exactly fit for a traditional festival crowd. So, this made me even more interested in attending his set. Then, I looked at the ticket prices, and they were just 144 Brazilian Real. That’s around $27 to see an artist whose resale ticket prices are 20 times that.
However, the tickets were sold out in December, five months before the actual festival. I kept checking periodically to see if any tickets would reappear, because it seemed like an excellent opportunity. The first few days I tried, there were actually a few tickets available and I felt lucky.
However, then I clicked on the seats…They were for people with wheelchairs or people accompanying wheelchairs only. Surely someone out there has bought a wheelchair before for the sake of getting a great seat at a show.
If I said the idea didn’t go through my head about finding a handicapped person to accompany to the show, I would unfortunately be lying. Instead of trying that absurd plan, I kept checking to see if there were legitimate seats available.
Then, four or five days after I first checked, there was actually a single seat in the main seating area! Blessing my luck, I snapped it up as fast as I could.
Cameron Winter Ticket + Round Trip Flights Cheaper than Carnegie Hall Show
It sounded crazy to travel to Brazil to see Winter at first, but I started toying with the idea of traveling down to Brazil to see Iguazu Falls, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo, and go to the festival.
I quickly realized the flights + the ticket to see Winter would have been cheaper than just paying for his show at Carnegie Hall. I found flights from Mexico City for $490 round trip, so that and the $27 ticket would have totaled $517.
Of course, accommodations and food are other expenses to consider. Still, I figured I’d be able to use the points I’ve accumulated from my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, before they get devalued, to not have to pay out of pocket for accommodations.
Other Concert, Festival Travel
While I didn’t end up booking the flights to see Cameron Winter in Brazil (I’m playing in a Gaelic football tournament in San Diego instead), it got me thinking that perhaps the Swifties who travel across the world to see her perform in cheaper locales are on to something.
Combining concerts with the exploration of new places can be an incredibly rewarding experience. While traveling to another country just for a concert might sound daunting, festivals could provide the impetus to make the leap.
Just this past weekend, I took a quick flight from Mexico City to Monterrey to see the Tecate Pa’l Norte Festival. Seeing Turnstile was on my bucket list, and they were on a bill with Deftones, Tyler, the Creator, Interpol, Los Fabulos Cadillacs, Grupo Frontera, The Whitest Boy Alive, Cypress Hill etc.
I had a great time in the pit, but I also enjoyed Monterrey much more than I expected to. Parque Fundidora, where the festival was held, is a shining example of urban renewal. Barrio Antiguo has some excellent cafes and a lot of potential.
The mountains that surround the Northern Mexican city are breathtaking, and Monterrey is one of Mexico’s premier hiking destinations. I’d definitely consider going to Tecate Pa’l Norte once again, and would like to travel to festivals in other countries in the future.
One problem with traveling to go to festivals, though, is that accommodation and transportation prices are typically sky-high during these dates. This is where points can be incredibly helpful.
Using Points to Save Money on Festival Travel
In Monterrey, I used only 5,000 Hyatt points per night, transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards points, to stay in a great hotel with an excellent breakfast buffet. This was by far the cheapest accommodation option available during the festival, even counting hostels.
As for flights, it pays to be flexible. I saved a lot of money by flying in on a Wednesday for the festival, which started on Friday. I had VivaAerobus credit from another flight I had to cancel, which also helped cut out-of-pocket costs.
If you have a credit card with transfer partners, a lot of the time it can make sense to book with points when the flight price is high. Also, Chase Sapphire Reserve points are still worth 50% more when used for travel until next October’s devaluation.