Row B, Seats
26-27 (dead center, second row in back of the pit)
Proposition:
Guster is the world’s greatest rock band that almost no one has ever heard
(of).
Last night
at Wolf Trap provided evidence for both ends of this, as the guys put on a fantastic
show in front of a smallish but enthusiastic audience. (“Smallish” here meaning
that if the Filene Center were a glass, it would have been closer to half-empty
than half-full.)
All 5
“members” of the band (Ryan, Adam, Brian, Luke, and ???) displayed their
musical versatility – despite the apparent looseness of the show and the
repartee, it obviously required a huge amount of organization to keep track of
who was playing what instrument as they moved between songs. Front man and
resident goof Ryan Miller, for instance, played 3 or 4 different keyboards
(xylophone, organ, …) at various points, in addition to guitar and bass. The
biggest cheers, however, seemed to be reserved for Adam Gardner whenever he
picked up his trumpet, while percussionist Brian Rosenworcel moved seamlessly
back and forth between two drum kits while in one song also showing both
standard and distinctly non-standard uses for a trombone. (Trivia note – Brian’s
sister Jessica is one of the five members of the Federal Communications
Commission.)
From the
beginning of the show, the band demonstrated the depth of their catalog,
starting with “Long Night” (the first of several tracks from their recent Evermotion CD), following that with “Careful”
(from 2003’s Keep It Together), and
going back to last century for tunes such as “Barrel Of A Gun”, “Happier”, and “Either
Way”). They also resisted the temptation to only play their hits (OK, they
really didn’t have any actual “hits”), eschewing more familiar tracks such as “One
Man Wrecking Machine” in favor of less-played tunes such as “Lightning Rod” (a
personal favorite of mine).
The band
ended the pre-encore portion of their show with a rousing crowd singalong on “This
Could All Be Yours”, followed (after perhaps a 15-second break) by “Kid Dreams”.
They then brought back opening act Kishi Bashi to add violin on the classic “Satellite”
and a rousing version of “Come On Eileen”, after which they strolled back to
the lawn for a short acoustic conclusion to the show. By this time it was
10:55, which is the closest any show I’ve been to in the past few years has
come to the Wolf Trap curfew. (Guster started just after 9:00.)
Ah, what to
say about opening act Kishi Bashi (the “nom de la musique” for 39-year-old
violinist and singer Kaoru Ishibashi)? The Wolf Trap program notes that he “blends
elements of pop, classical, electronica, and beatboxing to create an experimental
sound that transcends cultures and pop music eras.” Lots of looping on both
violin and vocals. Very personable guy – not exactly my cup of tea style-wise,
but certainly one of the more unusual openers I’ve seen recently.
