Guster's Skills and Venue Improve

Author: Andy Zrike

On Friday night, the trio known as Guster returned to Middlebury College to headline the Middlebury College Activity Board (MCAB) spring concert.

Playing for an hour and a half, the popular group played a set that included several classics and fan favorites in addition to some new songs that have yet to be released on record.

Their set was musically tight, and, in a change from their last appearance at the College, less humor driven.

When Guster last played the College over four years ago, the threesome performed on a bare bones McCullough stage in front of a packed and raucous audience. All that was on stage were the three musicians and their instruments illuminated by a few lights.

With a set full of banter between songs, tongue in cheek humor and solid playing, the boys from Somerville, Mass., entertained an audience made up almost entirely of Middlebury students.

However, a lot has changed for Guster in recent years. Immediately following the band's last visit to campus, they entered the studio to record their first major label released CD, the Steve Lillywhite- produced "Lost and Gone Forever."

Though still using only guitars and percussion, Guster's sound has matured somewhat and has clearly benefited from working with an experienced producer and an extended stay at a high-tech studio.

The CD included several radio singles, which earned the band high profile appearances at Woodstock '99 and on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brian.

Suddenly, a band that had previously been a regional attraction was now headlining venues across the country, including the fabled Filmore in San Francisco, Calif.

The increase in popularity that Guster has experienced over the past few years was instantly noticeable on Friday night.

Rather than playing in the intimate confines of the McCullough Social Space, the band was placed in the cavernous Nelson Arena, the first concert in the venue.

Also, the band's audience has changed in the last few years. While the College student body was still well represented, a large portion of the audience was made up of local high school and college students who had come to town to see and hear Guster.

Reflecting the change of venue, their stage was much larger and was covered by an elaborate lighting setup. At a set capacity of 2,000 people, the entire atmosphere of this show was drastically different than the last time Guster was here.

Though it can be argued that some of the intimacy between the audience and the band was lost in the change of venue, Guster adapted admirably, and their distinct brand of acoustic pop still sounded great in the cavernous hall.

Rather than hindering their playing, their new complex lighting rigs added to the music, giving an added element to their sometimes simple combination of only guitars and percussion.

The lights and strobes, that changed with the music, were a definite bonus. Also, this time, rather than relying as much on between song banter to keep the show interesting, they let their playing do more of the talking.

The band played a mix of songs from all three albums, though they concentrated more on more recent material.

Though all songs were well received, as was apparent by the large number of crowd surfers throughout the concert, the older and more familiar songs where the most popular with the audience and so they generated more enthusiastic response.

Songs such as "Great Escape," "Demons" and "The Airport Song," all from the bands sophomore album, were met with squeals of delight and a large portion of the crowd could be heard singing along.

The latter song, the band's first single, even included some of the band's more ardent fans throwing ping pong balls at the end of the song, an apparent allusion to the sound of ping pong balls heard at the end of the track on the album.

Fans coming to the concert loaded with props, as if they were part of the cult followers attending a showing of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show," is testament to the rising success and popularity of Guster among younger audiences in the emerging music scene.

Though the show was without a some of the humorous banter that defined their previous apperance, the band reminded the crowd in the end that they should not be taking too seriously.

During their final song of the night, the popular ballad "Mona Lisa," lead singer Miller let percussionist Bryan Rosenworcel handle lead vocal duties, giving a purposely and painfully out of tune effort.

As both the audience and the band laughed at his performance, everyone was reminded that even though Guster has grown in popularity in recent years, they have not lost sight of their sense of humor.

For more information of the band and their upcoming tours, check out Guster's Web site: http://www.guster.com.