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Submitted to Guster.net by Andy Ralls

07-08-2003
the Beaumont Club, Kansas City, Missouri


Note: Quotations are transcribed as closely as I can remember. They may not be 100% perfect, but I swear I’m not “New York Timesing” you with fake quotes.

The only other time I saw Guster was from the rooftops surrounding City Market in Kansas City in 2001 when they toured with John Mayer. This was definitely a better show, mainly because the crowd was into Guster and not just a bunch of John “I Make Weird Faces When I Sing” Mayer fans.

When Ryan arrived on stage, he was upfront, explaining the process to new concert-goers: “Hi, we’re Guster, and we’re going to play some songs for you tonight.”

I wrote the set-list on my concert ticket with the pen from my Swiss Army Card:

Happier
Careful
“You Got It” – don’t know the song title, but these were some oft-repeated words
Parachute
Ramona
What You Wish For
Airport Song
Amsterdam
Keep It Together
Red Oyster Cult
All the Way Up to Heaven
Barrel Of A Gun
Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Demons
Fa Fa
--------encore---------
So Long
Homecoming King
“smooth jazz” version of Medicine
a crazy “thank you” song
I spy

They were trying to start “Smooth Jazz” Medicine (Joe was being jazzy with his guitar) and their conversation went something like this:
Ryan: “How does it go?”
Adam tells him the chord
Ryan: “Which one?”
Then Adam starts singing the intro, as if Ryan’s never heard it before.

Ryan also explained the encore process: “This is our last song, so after we play, we’re going to walk away. But, if you clap, we’ll come back and play some more.”

“So Long” and “All the Way Up to Heaven” are two of my favorite songs, and I didn’t think they’d play ‘em, but they did! I really couldn’t have come up with a better set-list myself.

After seeing this concert, I am a little disappointed with the lack of energy displayed at the Carson Daly taping. They’re just so much better live than that version of “Amsterdam” would have you believe!

My friend, who had never seen Guster before, said that Brian looked like Animal (you know, the Muppet) because he was just flailing about on the drums/congas/bongos. He was entertaining, to say the least.

Finally, if anyone from Warner is reading this, fix the crappy sound quality on Keep It Together!!!