Act one in last week’s concert was Guster, a band I’ve very much enjoyed over the years without becoming fanatical. They have a great sound and write very good songs but they sit in a tier somewhere below my favorite artists.
Perhaps because the first act in a three-band show gets the short end of the stick in terms of production values, I was a little underwhelmed with Guster’s show. Their studio albums have a sweetly off-kilter vibe that didn’t quite translate to the stage.
It didn’t help that the set list was tilted toward songs I didn’t know (from either their most recent album or their first two), or that I missed the first song or two of their performance. And most of the audience was milling about, chatting or buying food during their set. These certainly weren’t ideal conditions in which to judge Guster’s live show.
Still, I expected something special and I got a very solid opening act performance by an indie rock band.
Just a perfect reflection, you and no one else
Minutes run into hours, hours run into days
You’re still waiting for someone who never ever came
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Go and run through the hallways, and find your way to the door
You will end up like always, back where you were before
Can you look in the mirror, wish you were somebody else
But it’s still your reflection, you and no one else
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
No matter where you go, you’ll never find your way home
You’ll never find your way home no matter where you go
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
You were always saying something, you swear you’d never say again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Fa Fa-Fa Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
Never be the same again
Meet Me In Montauk 
I had always enjoyed the little bit of Guster I had heard in the past. In trying to beef up our familiarity for the concert, we played one of their albums on our drive from Birmingham to Atlanta. We all really liked what we we were hearing. Our crash course, however, only paid off with one or two songs played at the concert. Still, I enjoyed their performance and was thankful that most of the crowd, who were there to see Barenaked Ladies, had not yet settled in their seats, so I was able to enjoy Guster’s performance, low production value notwithstanding.
As someone who expected a solid set from an indie opening act, I enjoyed them just fine 🙂 I don’t know any of the songs well enough to have anticipated one or to have enjoyed singing along with another, so I just let their overall great sound wash over me (when I wasn’t in line to buy a pretzel, that is. Hey, we were so late we missed dinner!)
To clarify, that’s the great sound of their music; I can’t speak to the production value at that particular concert having nothing with which to compare it.