It was a beautiful Saturday night in late November, and once
again, Mrs. Vie and I were going to witness the always fantastic Guster in
concert. After seeing them live earlier that summer, I knew they
were going to give an incredible performance. This time around we would be
enjoying their show from the Wellmont Theatre, an exceptional venue located in
Montclair, New Jersey.
We arrived early, and once again, my lovely wife put us as
close to the stage as possible. We were up against the barricade and could
easily reach over and touch the stage. It was nice to be that close to the
action and my wife was ecstatic. I was pretty excited myself.
The opening band had won the opportunity to open for Guster
at this show. For their fall tour, Guster held a contest that a local
college/high school band near each venue would open the evening. For The
Wellmont Theatre that meant The Emily Youth Project would be the opening act. Clearly
I knew nothing about the band, the same as most audience members. This was a
local, unknown band who were handed a great opportunity. I was interested in
seeing how they would make the most of it.
The Emily Youth Project was nothing short of spectacular.
Considering that I didn’t know any of their songs or anything about the band,
they came out and gave a stupendous performance. They absolutely blew the crowd
away! Although they are a young and new band, they commanded the stage like
seasoned professionals. Their ability was magnificent and they showed a
maturity and stage presence well beyond their years. By the end of their set,
the entire crowd was clapping and dancing along with their songs. I was
extremely impressed with the band.
After The Emily Youth Project wrapped up, I took a moment to
look around the theater before Guster would come out. I noticed that the
General Admission area was pretty much sold out and packed, but the balcony
seating was sparse. That was disappointing, as I’ve always felt that Guster is
a band that should be selling out the venues they perform at. However, knowing
Guster after having seen them a few times, I knew that the size of the crowd
did not make a difference to them. They were going to come out and give us a
magnificent performance no matter what.
We stood through the setting up of the stage, took in all
the little nuances that we could, and then the house lights went down and
Guster came out to the roar of the crowd. They opened with a terrific rendition
of “Ramona” and the night was off and running.
“Satellite,” the new track “Simple Machine,” and “Happier”
were next and it was an exquisite pack of songs to begin the concert. Classic
staples and newer hits blended together to start the night off right. I was
grinning by the end of “Happier” and just knew that we were in for an amazing
night.
My favorite track from the new album, “Kid Dreams” was
performed as well as “Never Coming Down” and “Lazy Love.” I felt that Guster
paid the right amount of attention to their latest album while mixing in plenty
of hits and deeper cuts. At one point in the night, the band decided to take an
audience vote on which song they wanted to hear. The choices were “Two Points
For Honesty” and “Happy Frappy.” The loudest applause and cheers would get the
song performed. “Two Points For Honesty” won out by a landslide and the band
went on to play an exceptional version of it. Singer/guitarist Ryan Miller
admitted after the song that he didn’t like to perform most of the older songs,
he preferred to stick with the newer material. He then admitted that he had so
much fun playing “Two Points For Honesty” that the band was going to play
“Happy Frappy” anyway. This received a huge roar of approval from the crowd. What
he didn’t tell the crowd was that they hadn’t played the song live in so long,
they were going to sing the verses out of order. They butchered the verses which
forced quizzical glances from Ryan and Adam at each other. When Ryan started to
sing the same verse again, Adam noted that he sang that verse already and they
made a small bit out of it. Guster always finds a way to entertain, even
through their mess ups. And the crowd did not care. They got to hear “Happy Frappy.”
It was also Ryan’s birthday. Toward the end of the set, Ryan
was presented with a birthday cake and a little birthday party hat that he wore
for a while. It was comical seeing him sing songs with a birthday party hat
strapped to his head. It was just another reason to love this band.
The encore was set up in a way that only Guster could do.
They made up a song on the spot called “Zombie Jews.” They told the audience
that the band was going to lie down on the stage ike they were dead and then
they would slowly rise like Zombies to play the encore. Then another verse of
the fictious song “Zombie Jews” was played and the band lay down on the stage
just like they said they would. It was comical and entertaining. Shortly after
lying down, the band slowly rose like Zombies and went into the encore.
The encore was a solid pack of hits (including their newest
one). The last song of the night was a special Guster joke that they entertain
from time to time. Drummer/Bongo specialist, Brian Rosenworcel stepped out from
behind the bongos and took the microphone. It was time to sing a cover song.
The band launched into Wham’s “Careless Whisper” with Brian screaming his way through
the vocals. I laughed through the entire song, enjoying the joke of it. It’s
also my kind of esoteric comedy.
Once again, Guster was amazing in concert and I can’t wait
to see them again. It was a terrific performance and being so close to the
stage for the second Guster concert in a row was a real treat. Compliments to
my wife who always seems to bring me out of comfort zone for all the right
reasons.
Setlist
Ramona
Satellite
Simple Machine
Happier
Hercules
Careful
Doin’ It By Myself
Captain
Kid Dreams
Homecoming King
Come Downstairs And Say Hello
Do You Love Me
Never Coming Down
Demons
Two Points For Honesty
Happy Frappy
Ruby Falls
Lazy Love
Barrel Of A Gun
This Could All Be Yours
Encore
Long Night
One Man Wrecking Machine
Manifest Destiny
Airport Song
Careless Whisper (Wham cover – Brian on vocals)
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