Guster // Live @ House of Blues // 1.15.16

Article and Photos by: Jessica Gorrell

BOSTON – Guster, an exuberant and fluid act with a career now spanning almost 25 years, brought down the house last Friday night at the House of Blues.

With January 15th being declared “Guster Day,” fans gathered at the venue to celebrate with the band; but since they would be playing multiple shows at the HoB that weekend, vocalist Ryan Miller decided that it should be “Guster Week” instead. “Like shark week, but without the teeth,” he laughed as the band launched into a super groovy Talking Heads cover of “(Nothing But) Flowers.” The four-piece performed a two-hour long set for a full house, incorporating some of their biggest hits into the set list like “Satellite,” “One Man Wrecking Machine,” and “Diane.”

Guster played a show the previous night at the Upstate Concert Hall in New York, but before that they hadn’t played since Thanksgiving. “Yesterday was our first show since, so we haven’t practiced these songs,” Miller remarked after making a quick comment to fellow band mate Adam Gardner. “so they’re going to be terrible… Extra terrible. ” And while the band laughed over a missed intro not even 30 seconds later, they were too damn good for a lack of practice to even matter.

The night carried an incredible vibe of excitement as fans chattered in between songs about which tracks they hoped the band would play next. Whether or not a fan’s desired choice of song was actually performed or not, there was never a disappointing moment as each track played earned more applause and shouts of approval shot towards the stage.

The audience was even given the choice on what song they wanted to hear: either one of two songs off Guster’s freshman album, Parachute, or one off of their sophomore album, Goldfly. The overwhelming amounts of applause clued them in on what the house wanted to hear, and the band rushed right into “Rocketship” just moments later. But no matter how loud they played, the audience sang along even louder, showing their appreciation.

After closing out the final notes of “Demons,” Miller thanked the crowd for their participation and promised to return to Boston. “I’ll see you all in…. 30 to 45 seconds, probably.” He laughed before hopping off the stage with Gardner, and percussionist Brian Rosenworcel, leaving Luke Reynolds to lie on the stage, “rising like Lazarus” for their encore performances. Three tracks and a performance of “Fa Fa” (which seemed more like a euphoric jam session) later and Guster took their final bows before heading off stage.

Guster will continue their winter 2016 tour through February, and a list of all dates and venues being played can be found here.