Guster in Boston - April 21, 2007

The melodic pop-rock band Guster put on an amazing home show last weekend in Boston at the Opera House. The concert was a part of their Campus Consciousness Tour, a tour aimed to raise awareness about environmental issues and how to take action. The organization behind the tour, Reverb, was created by Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam and his wife in an effort to connect musicians and fans through the support of the environment. In the lobby of the Opera Hall, there were various environmental groups handing out pamphlets, creating mailing lists, and distributing free coupons for eco-friendly products. At Guster's merch table, there was a carbon-neutral Guster tee that I absolutely had to get (it had a cool lion on it). Guster also asked attendees to bring in canned goods for the Greater Boston Food Bank. I brought some in with my mom and brother, and we got signed up for a chance to meet the band (unfortunately didn't happen, though).

The Format opened up for the Guster, and they put on a pretty good set. Their first song called "Dog Problems" was amazingly catchy, but most of the songs following it didn't meet the greatness of that one song. The Format had a pretty good stage presence. It was fun to watch them perform. I just couldn't get into them too much. There were a lot of people who came for them, so perhaps I just have to get used to their music.

When the Guster set was ready, I was ecstatic! I saw them last year when they came to Portland, and I loved their performance...

This show absolutely exceeded my expectations. Before Guster came on, a large screen displayed on the backdrop of the stage with a large logo reading "GSPN" (suspiciously resembling the ESPN logo). There was a countdown and a special edition of Sportscenter started with John Buccigross commentating on the band's preparation of this concert. Footage showed the band members in various antics like playing racket ball in a conference meeting and worshiping the Green Monster. All of the footage was very reminiscient of OK Go's "Here We Go Again" music video. Near the end of the Sportscenter clip, Queen's "We Will Rock You" played and the band came out as the music began to fade.

The Guster guys played most of the crowd favorites like "Fa Fa", "Amsterdam", and "Ramona". They played a very mysterious intro and surprised the crowd by going right into "Barrel of a Gun", one of their biggest hits. The band also played a lot of songs from their new album, Ganging Up on the Sun, with "Ruby Falls", "Satellite", and "Lightening Rod".

The band almost had two encores, but they were running out of time, so after their first encore they said, "Well, we're going to bring Bob Saget on stage now." I didn't really know what to believe. Bob Saget? That's crazy talk! Why would he be here? But sure enough, they brought out a big Bob Saget banner, and Bob Saget busted through it. The audience went mad with holler and applause. Bob looked around and waved a few times and then left the stage. Apparently, Adam of Guster had no clue that this was going to happen, so he was in a bit of shock. After having played "The Beginning of the End", Guster dedicated their last song, "Happier", to Bob.

Like I said before, Guster put on a great home show. Whenever a band comes to their home town, you have to expect something cool and unusual will happen. The band is made of four young gentlemen who love to please their fans. If you ever want to feel completely engaged in a concert, buy a ticket to see Guster. You won't be disappointed.

Photo courtesy of gsowa86