Originally posted by Bags:
So how were the Guster shows?
[Clearly not a board fave, but I'd think someone went since they sold out two nights.]
Well, since you asked, yes, I went to the Thursday show with a couple friends. I'm not a huge fan by any means, but my friends are and have been to like 5 or 6 Guster shows. I really liked Guster's most recent album, last year's
Ganging Up on the Sun. Like some of their others albums, it loses steam about half way through, but the first half of the album is brilliant, I think. I've borrowed and listened to most of their previous albums from one my friends over the years, but
Ganging Up on the Sun is the first Guster album I purchased or even really wanted to listen to multiple times. Anyway, the concert was a lot of fun, except for the opening act, Mason Jennings. I was not impressed with his singing, his guitar playing, or his lyrics. His slow songs were somnambulent and repetitious, droning on seemingly forever. Put simply, he was boring. He had about one and a half songs that I liked at most. His drummer was definitely above average, however, but even the drummer seemed bored on a couple songs. Guster went on about 15 minutes late. I actually enjoyed the main set the most, since it was laced heavily with songs from
Ganging Up on the Sun. I was rather disappointed they didn't play "One Man Wrecking Machine" though. I'm guessing they played it on Wednesday, but it's still my favorite song of theirs. (The video is damn cool, too.) The encore was fun though, topped off with a song sung by drummer/percussionist Brian Rosenworcel. Was he doing an Eddie Vedder impersonation? Whatever it was, it was a lot of fun. I was left wondering if there should have been a second encore though. Earlier, one of the Guster guys (Ryan, I believe) said there would be "encores," plural, but there was only the one encore. Certainly, the audience wanted more. The "W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N, baby, D-C" chanting (requested by Ryan) was louder after the encore than after the main set. My theory is that the 15-minute late start time prevented a possible second encore.
