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Submitted to Guster.net by sara

05-11-2002
paramount theatre, asbury park, new jersey


this is not so much a review as it is an experience. i think it's rather entertaining, however....

[start]


i should be reading, but i'm taking a small break right now to tell a fantastic story...i should have written this days ago, but i just haven't been in the correct mind set to write it the way i want to. now...i am...
this is entitled "i hate studying but i don't hate guster"

*author's note- i apologize for the verb tense changes throughout, but i am too lazy to go back and make this bitch consistent.

so, it's me, lukass, stacy, lauren (the guster virgin) and we're about ready to leave to see guster in asbury park at the paramount. suddenly, my dadoo decides that although i'd been telling him for weeks to go buy a ticket if he wanted to come and he never did, he would try to work his magic and buy one when he got there. score...we don't have to drive because the oldest living guster fan is attending the night's festivities and he just so happens to be my DAD.

we arrive in asbury wondering where the hell the theatre is because mapquest is of no help. we're blasting lost and gone forever and driving in circles around the area that we believe has the theatre. then, i spot a group of kids, obviously headed toward the concert, walking down the street. i stick my head out the window, "where's guster????." they laugh and say that they have no idea and i tell them we'll see them there....we proceed to drive around the block and we pass them again and they tell us that the theatre is attached to the convention center. why didn't we know this in the first place? things would have been much easier.

finally, we pull up to the paramount to find the gusbus parked right on the side of the place. we, of course park right in front of the bus, i take several pictures from across the road demonstrating our closeness, and then everyone gets out. soon, we realize that the stage door is cracked open and that guster is doing their sound check. after bickering back and forth for a few minutes about who would actually open the door, i stroll inside and everyone follows. we stayed in there listening until a nice young man said, " i don't mean to be an asshole, but i have to kick you out now." we said we completely understand and we left.

then, i get the brilliant idea that, although we are in the most desolate place in new jersey, the gusbus definitely needs some quarters in their meter, just in case. lauren gives me some and just as she's about to take a picture of me, adam walks outside. "hey adam, wanna be in the background of this one? we're putting quarters in your meter, looking out for ya." he chuckles and stands there for the picture.

we go around the building to get in line. dad goes to the ticket counter to buy a ticket. the lady hands it to him saying,"this is the last one. we're sold out." ha. the day just keeps getting better and better.

after about an hour of standing around, we get antsy and stroll over to the hojo's restaurant. what a winner that place is. we never actually had contact with a waitress, and my dad ended up bringing over a menu which i swiped because i like the cover. soon, bessica calls, because she was on her way to the show too, of course. this made me happy because, what's a guster show without the other half of rising? she tells us that she's there and waiting in line so we go over to meet her and melissa.

eventually, we get inside and find our seats are the very last row, GG. it was ok though because we could stand on our chairs and dance and be stupid with no one behind us to get angry. the opening band was so-so...their sound kind of smeared together. you couldn't pick the instruments apart from one anther and i didn't like that very much. i think they needed more energy on-stage, too.

when their set ended, bessica runs up to me from her seat down in the front and we begin scheming. (there's always an adventure to be had.) i whip out a cartoon drawing of guster that british drew a while back and we concoct a letter to give to them asking for us to sing "i spy" on stage with them. it said something like,"dearest guster, we are afraid that you'll get too famous once you "co-headline" with john mayer and we would love to come sing "i spy" with you tonight. it would make us the happiest people in the world. love, rising to the bottom (sara and jess). p.s.- we'll put more quarters in your meter, adam." we pass it over to dadoo and he gets the job done, i believe giving it to adam's mom. she thought it was cute and told him that she'd make sure they received it.

at this point, we're so excited, it's uncontrollable smiling and we're repeatedly asking each other if we think we're actually going to live out our dream.

the show starts and they sound AMAZING, as usual. i always expect nothing less. then...the fateful congas strike up the beginning of "i spy" and i go into submission for a whole of thirty-eight seconds until i realize that the song is too beautiful for me to be upset during. one thing i do have to add here, is that i hate it when ryan sings "we went down to the gay parade..." but that's just me, i guess.

the rest of the show was excellent. the best i have seen thus far. it was definitely tighter than the st. joe's show i had seen earlier in the tour. highlights include "x-ray eyes", "two points for honesty", and "demons." they are my personal favorites and i was so glad they decided to play them.

ok...i'm getting to the end now, so please bear with me....

after the show, we all meet at the jeep and have a tailgate party in eager anticipation of guster's arrival. finally, we get wind that adam is around the corner so bessica and i decide to go check it out. he's there with a couple fans and a lady that bears close resemblance to his mother. she's nice and she smiles a lot when she sees how excited we are to be talking with him and telling him how much we appreciate guster. we tell adam immediately that we are rising to the bottom and he smiles and then says," i'm so sorry. we were totally ready to do it, but ryan bailed on the idea at the last second." we tell him it's ok and he signs jess's poster and my drawing...adam likes the drawing.

then, we go back to the jeep and see that brian has come outside. we walk over to him and i introduce bessica as "the other half of the girls who chased you on your bike in NYC.". he remembers. we tell him we're rising and he, too, apologizes. he then signs jess's poster "to rising to the bottom love, bri------" and he signs mine just plain"bri----" so i say, "hey! i need some guster lovin' up in this piece" and he puts a big flaming heart on my drawing. i like it.

ryan comes outside, goes directly into the gusbus and re-emerges about ten minutes later, drunk, wearing a straw farmer's hat that doesn't fit on his head. he tells us that he brought the paper on stage with him but decided not to go with it at the last moment. he gives us a big hug to try to make up for it and he writes on jess's poster,"i spy the two girls i dissed." ha. silly drunk.

we turn around and go back to the jeep to discuss and make further plans. we decide that it's now or never and we walk back over to ryan. jess says,"since we didn't get to sing with you tonight, can we do it now with you?"...ryan looks a little drunk as well as a little taken aback and tells us that it would be awkward for him and that it just wouldn't be right. that makes us a tiny bit sad and we turn around to go back to the jeep. little did we know that my dad was in the process of saving the day, once again. he told brian of the situation and he comes over to us and says," i think i have one verse left in me" as he begins to play the beat of "i spy" on his chest, completely enveloping himself in the sound, just as he does on-stage. i tell jess to start and i add in my harmony. it sounded so pretty and felt so wonderful to be sharing our love of guster with brian.

we thanked him a bazillion times and that ended our night. it was the best experience i've ever had. thank you, guster.