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Reviews From 04-23-2001
Submitted to Guster.net by Charm

04-23-2001
Auditorium Center, Rochester, New York


My turn now.

Pardon my French, but what a fucking awesome show (hey, that's not
French)!

I've never written a review before, but this was probably the best show I've have ever seen the guys do, and I took notes this time.

Brian played like a man possessed, Ryan's voice didn't crack all night, and Adam, what a trooper, he stood for the entire show, but looked like he paid for it later when he hobbled to the Gus Bus on his crutches. Ouch. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, they came out in a Price is Right spoof, being called onstage
and running in from the audience with those yellow price tag on their
chests with their names on them.

They started with What You Wish For, and then went into Happier, and by the middle of Happier, I noticed that Brian was wailing on those bongos like his brain had left his body. Last night he gave 200%, so when he told us, after the show, that he had been bleeding, I wasn't surprised.

I'm not going to post the setlist, because someone else already did,
and I also put it up on Kenta's web site, but Barrel had a snazzy
little jam opening, I almost didn't recognise it. They played the
untitled new song and Parachute with Joe of JMB (who was also wearing a price/name tag).

Interesting side note. After Ryan says that they are going to play the title song from their first album, kid in front of me says to his
buddy, "What's their new song? Is this it?" They also didn't know
Happy Frappy. It doesn't bother me that he's a new fan who doesn't
know one album from another. It bothers me that he and his too tall, equally indifferent friend came and stood in front of 5'5" me, in seats that they did not pay for. I have incredibly strong calf muscles from standing on my tip toes the entire show. But I digress. Back the the most fantastic show I have every seen.

I have never been especially fond of Airport Song on CD, but it kicks
ass live, and y'all know why. No, it's not the dirty part, it's the
drum solo at the end. Which brings me to my question?

How come no one has mentioned the lights? Was this new, have you never seen them before? The lights were great, and when Brian starts wailing on the bongos, there was this amazing strobe effect happening. I honestly whispered under my breath, "Oh my god", and then realised I was praying at the alter of the Thundergod (sorry about the cheese, but head is still buzzing from the incredible Guster high). It was awe inspiring.

Everyone just says they play a muzak version of Happy Frappy. I
suppose that's because it's indescribable. All I can say about this
song is WOW! Too bad they'll never record it. I think I like the
muzak version even better. I would venture to say the crowd really
loved it too. We were totally into it.

Honestly, I didn't like Ramona at the beginning, but by the end I
thought it had potential.

Hat's off to Zack and his little brother (who also came out wearing
price/name tags, but Zack's little brother's said "Zack's little
brother"), they were great. I actually saw them last year at
Waterstreet. They've grown a lot in a year. On their way to becoming
big rock stars. And Fa Fa, again, not one of my favourites on the CD,
but live, with someone playing sax (and a trumpet), it is an amazing song.

They didn't give the standard fake encore speech, but just left the
stage, but the crowd was deafening. They would have had to do an
encore after that. And they came out and did All The Way, and Demons,
and were joined by Joe, Marc's Brother (wearing price/name tags) for
the Turtles' Happy Together.

And the crowd was still deafening. I've never heard anything like it,
it was soooo loud. So what else could they do? They played a second encore!

They did the accoustic Mona Lisa, which I have never heard before, and it was breathtaking. The crowd of almost 3000, stayed SILENT while Ryan sang, and I could not breathe. It was so beautiful.

Between the cost of taking two days off of work, and the cost of going down to Rochester, and the hassle Customs gave me about the package I brought for the guys, this was one of the most expensive concerts I have ever seen, and still a bargain. If anyone ever asks me why I travel miles to see Guster play, I will just tell them about this show.

God I hope someone taped it.

And my apologies for cussing. But it was amazing.