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By Megan Lepage
As I've come to expect over the past ten years
of being a fan, Guster was true to form and full of
energy as they played to a sold-out crowd at the Hampton
Casino on Friday, November 11. Fresh from recording,
the threesome recently turned foursome rocked the house
with a set list that would make any fan blush.
The band opened with "Demons" which has
been one of my all-time favorites for years. The sound
was tight and full and I knew this show was going to
be unlike the past few I had seen, namely because the
venue is smaller than what Guster has traditionally
been playing the last two years and because they were
on home turf. Playing to a hometown crowd always brings
out the best – and goofiest – side of the
boys.
Amid old favorites like "Center of Attention," "Happier"
and "Diane" (all played flawlessly), Guster tested new
material from their forthcoming album Ganging Up
On the Sun, which is due out this spring. "One Man
Wrecking Machine", a song about contemplating life in
high school, was my favorite out of the four new tunes.
It not only exhibited the energy and danceability that
makes me love Guster, but the lyrics made me want to
laugh and cry:
I built a time machine
I'm going to see the homecoming queen
Take her to the Christmas dance
Maybe now I'll get in her pants
Dana, the cellist for Matt Pond PA, joined Adam, Ryan,
Brian and Joe for "So Long" and "Airport
Song," which whipped the crowd into a virtual
frenzy. All one could see was an ocean of bouncing heads
and flying ping pong balls (with one pelting Ryan square
on the nose).
One of the evening's highlights was a rather
bizarre arrangement of "Either Way." Part
monster ballad, part reggae tune, it took me a few minutes
to realize what was going on. At the end of the song,
Ryan asked if we'd like them to play an extended,
114-minute version of the song. After deafening cheers,
they instead decided to break out into "Captain,"
a new song with definite honky-tonk roots. My friends
actually decided to begin square dancing. By the end,
Brian hit the bongos so hard that he broke right through
one. Ryan threw the busted cap out into the audience,
remarking that it could make loads on eBay.
As Guster played their new songs, one could definitely
see a departure from what they once were. The band that
once had a stripped down, simple sound (think Parachute
- an album that was completely ignored this night) has
since expanded enough musically to warrant the addition
of Joe Pisapia. I love the new, rich sound but miss
the dependency on Brian's bongos to carry the beat.
More and more Brian moves away from the bongos and to
a traditional drum kit. His bongos were part of what
made Guster so unique. Although I know they would never
abandon the instrument that helped propel them to stardom,
I fear that those heart-thumping, arm-flailing, beat-laden
songs may become less and less frequent as the band
evolves.
That said, some of the new songs may have less bongo
action but there is no lack of energy. They blazed through
"Backyard" and "May Parade,"
as well as the crowd favorites, "Amsterdam"
and "Two Points for Honesty".
Near the end of the night, Ryan gave the crowd a choice:
They could walk off stage and walk back on (to resounding
applause, of course) and begin the encore. Or, they
could just stay on stage and segue right into it. We
opted for them to just stay and play, and were not disappointed.
"Come Downstairs and Say Hello" has become
such an amazing and powerful song in the catalogue.
No matter how many times I hear it live, it never fails
to lift me to that magical place that is musical nirvana
(especially when played with the Boston Pops as backup).
Follow that with the nearly euphoric "Great Escape,"
which included the count from the Violent Femmes'
"Add It Up," and it was obvious there was
no coming down from the high.
They closed the set with "Barrel of a Gun"
and left the stage to frantic applause and screams.
Many folks packed up and exited the casino, but an even
greater handful stayed glued to their spot chanting,
"We want Guster!" A few minutes later, they
wandered back on stage. Fans with one foot out the exit
door whipped around and came running back to enjoy an
unplugged, acoustic rendition of "Jesus on the
Radio." Melodic, simple and stripped – just
as they were when I found them all those years ago.
It was the perfect reminder that, no matter how they
grow and change, the heart of Guster is still the same
and will forever be in the right place.
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