Please note that this is not a show review for Lar Lubovitch nor Joan Baez. Sorry to disappoint. But if you do happen to care for their unique take on interpretive dance or narrative style folk music please by all means check out their websites or see their shows.
Glad that is clarified and out of the way, lets get get down to business. Guster business. Simply put, their two hour performance at The Flynn Theater was nothing short of amazing. After seeing Guster countless times early on, I took a ten year absence from their live shows (for reasons still unclear). I got back on board in Fall 2009 for the 'Lost and Gone Forever' 10th Anniversary Tour. I am truly glad I did. Now I am back to unabashedly singing along to their infectious pop gems, albeit out of tune, but I have passion! Their live show still offers up their penchant for hilarity as well as sharply honed musical chops. The band trades instruments throughout the entire show, switching from acoustic to electric, from banjo to bass, from piano to guitar, from drum kit to bongos. Their voices sound as crisp as they did years ago - hitting all the highest notes with ease. Vermonters know good music thusly Guster packs the Flynn everytime they come to town. They certainly have come a long way from $8.00 shows at Club Toast and kitchy Madonna and Rage Against The Machine covers.
Guster's sound is as big as ever. They absolutely killed road-tested must play tunes. 'Demons' brought down the house with its tension building up to a frenzy. I am still in complete awe of this song 13 years later. It was comforting to see that fans still throw ping pong balls onto the stage at the ending of 'Airport Song'. It is also comforting to dance ones ass off to this song as they have turned it into a straight disco rave up. They can still play the hell out of 'Careful', 'Satellite', 'Barrell of a Gun', and 'Happier'.
Their new songs held up incredibly well. Those cats sure can craft a near perfect pop song. They had a wealth of new material to pull from off their excellent new LP 'Easy Wonderful'. 'Do You Love Me' has been getting a bit of airplay on 104.7 FM The Point so I was really happy to hear it live. The song has lyrical gems like "I wanna know who yer talkin' to when yer singin' in yer sleep" and "I got marbles in my mouth, 1000 words I wanna say but its impossible to spit em out". Ryan's voice turns elastic hitting the refrain "Do you love me". Just remarkable. Other new tune highlights included 'Bad Bad World' and 'This Could All Be Yours'.
I had the privilage of seeing a ton of people I haven't seen in ages while milling around the lobby before Guster's set. I am positive that they as well as every person at the Flynn enjoyed the hell out of this show. Just a blast from the first note to the second call back for encore where they treated us to an all acoustic, no amplification version of 'Jesus On The Radio" from the edge of the stage. A class act for sure. Ya'll best believe I will not be taking another 10 year break from their live shows anytime soon. Until next time.
elbandito
No comments:
Post a Comment