Via my Twitter, I became aware that Guster was playing an unannounced show on the SMU Campus, so after getting confirmation of the show from none other than Guster themselves, BVaz and I went down to check it out.  Guster always puts on great shows (at least the four? times that I have seen them), and this one was no exception.  Guster’s musicianship, harmonies and presence have gotten so easy for them throughout their seemingly nonstop touring that the performance seems utterly effortless and is really impressive. 

The opening band was Wild Sweet Orange, and for being the opener for Guster on a small campus tour, I really liked these guys’ set.  Easy breezy free pop, they made a good match for Guster for an opener.  After their surprisingly enjoyable set, on to the main act. 

Once again, Guster did not fail to impress.  I never saw Guster when they were back in the old school days where they were simply a trio.  I caught them for the first time on their tour after releasing Keep it Together, which is the first time they had a couple other musicians with them – to play bass, horns, keys, etc.  With their current four (or sometimes five) person setup, they have a really good and satisfyingly deep sound in their shows.  While some of the older songs aren’t really impacted by additional instruments very much, these additional people are necessary for the more complex songs they played, such as Amsterdam and Careful. 

If I have a gripe about the show, it is most certainly focused on the audience.  Consisting almost entirely of undergrads (most of which wearing sorority/fraternity t-shirts), they spent the majority of the show chit-chatting and making sure they made a splash socially, rather than listening to the show.  To say it was irritating may be an understatement – it honestly was downright rude, as the conversations between songs continued during the songs as well, just at a louder volume to overcome the pesky concert going on in front of them. 

One thing I found odd was that due to the crowd being so young, I figured that they would all zone in on the newer songs from Ganging Up on the Sun, but that could not have been farther from the truth.  The only time the audience seemed to pay any attention at all was for the older songs, and Guster played some classics with Happier, Demon, Airport Song, Center of Attention and Barrel of a Gun.

Guster pulled primarily from Ganging Up on the Sun and Keep It Together, playing Amsterdam, Careful, Keep It Together, Ramona, Satellite, One Man Wrecking Machine,  The Captain, Manifest Destiny, and Amsterdam.  One cool part was at the end of Red Oyster Cult, the band broke into a pretty sweet cover of the Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear the Reaper at the part in that song for the guitar solo, and even going so far as to add some guy onstage who played cowbell.   After all, Don’t Fear the Reaper is meaningless without more cowbell.

In the end, Guster seems to be absolutely effortless in their near perfect performances every time I see them, and last week definitely fit that explanation.  Guster always seems like they are having fun, and seem to enjoy putting on their shows, even engaging the audiences with elaborate stage speak and stories, which the audience always seems to dig.  They are a great show and always enjoyable, so go check them out.

Guster – Satellite from Ganging Up On The Sun

Guster is still on the Campus Consciousness Tour, albeit for an extremely short amount of time:

4-30 – Milwaukee, WI – Marquette University
5-02 – Reading, PA – Albright College

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