Mikey D

It's taken me awhile to get around to this, but I wanted to write about the Guster concert Grace and I went to last week. It was at the 9:30 Club in the heart of D.C., and it was part of Guster's super-mini tour (like 10 concerts) that celebrates the ten year anniversary of their "Lost and Gone Forever" album (one of the best). There were no opening acts, just Guster, followed by Guster...a wonderful two and a half hours indeed. Here are some of my thoughts:

~The club itself was very similar to Clutch Cargos. I like that atmosphere. It has a more personal feel, which I enjoy. I feel like all the people that are there are the true Guster fans; the ones that buy the tickets as soon as they go on sale to make sure they have their spot inside. Plus when the show starts everyone is singing along, which is fun. The audience turns into a giant chorus.

~I hate driving into D.C.. I told Grace that I think D.C. is one of my least favorite "big cities". It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why that it its, because D.C. does have so much to offer and see. I do think one of the major sources of distaste comes from the general hassle of getting in and out of the city with all its traffic and busyness that just annoys me. I suppose I'm just not a "big city" guy. Anyway, I was worried about where to park when we got to the concert. I didn't want to have to walk a few blocks at night in a place I was unfamiliar. Well when we got there, a parking lot was open right across the street from the club. All they were charging was $20 a spot. Yea...no. Grace and I decided to look for something better (maybe not spot, but price), and sure enough we found better- right next to the lot, on the side of the street, at a meter that was free because we were parking after 6pm. Words cannot describe the joy that I felt for saving my $20 and still getting a great parking spot. I was so happy that I decided to devote a portion of this blog to tell you about it.

~So we were all waiting to be let into the club for the show, and who just randomly walks by? The Thundergod himself, Brian. I think most of the people in the line were caught off guard by the randomness and had to do a double-take. One of my initial thoughts after seeing him? "I could have tripped the Thundergod..."

~If there is one thing that I am, it's a man of punctuality. I hate being late. Early is on-time, on-time is late. It eats at me when I am late for something. Guster? Not so much. The show was supposed to begin at 8, but we waited until 8:45 to get the thing started. I don't know the reasons why, and I wish they would have said something to us instead of leaving us in the dark. Doors opened at 7, so that was almost a good two hours of standing and waiting. If they were having technical difficulties, just say something to let the crowd know. If they were treating Brian for injuries he suffered because a fan tripped him, just give the crowd a heads up. Common courtesy.

~Grace really wanted to be up in the balcony for the show, with her reasoning being that we could lean against the railing (you have to understand that we were both up at our usual 4:30 hour that day, so standing for such a long period of time was a bit of a chore). I didn't have a problem with this, and since we were there early, we got a prime spot in the balcony: front and center, right on the rail. As the place filled up, people started standing behind us a couple rows deep. Before things got too filled up though, there was a girl and her boyfriend who decided to stand directly behind Grace and I, despite the openings of other spots on the rail. I thought this was odd...why would you stand behind my tall self? Sure enough, midway through the concert, this girl is nudging me, asking me if I could, "please move, you're so tall that I cannot see". Mind you I'm elbow to elbow with everyone else on the rail with no room too maneuver whatsoever. My only choice would have been to move from my spot and let her take the rail...except that wasn't my choice. I told her no, that I couldn't, and went right back to watching the show. Fuck her for being an idiot. I'm kind of tired of being nice to stupid people.

~Guster started with a lot of stuff from the newest album (which is now a few years old, but whatever). I was really disappointed, because that album, in my opinion, was not their best. In fact, when I play Guster on my computer that album usually gets skipped over. It just doesn't sound like Guster...well, the Guster I fell in love with at least. So them playing six songs (yes, I counted) from that album made me a little unhappy. But my unhappiness was outweighed by my elation of seeing Guster again live. Me gusta Guster.

~I was a little sad by "Airport Song". They saved it for the end of the first set, but they've added too many bells and whistles to it. I like the raw version; with just Brian, Adam, and Ryan. No sound effects from the computer or Joe doing weird things, just play it natural. And by natural I mean Brian absolutely beating the shit out of his drums.

~They did play a few songs off their upcoming album. When is it coming out you ask? They never did say. So will tell you that it is coming "soon". I do believe that's what I've been saying for the last couple of years. Anyway, I liked the couple of songs they played. They seemed to have a more "Keep It Together" album feel.

~The second set was a lot better than the first (obviously). Playing the "Lost and Gone Forever" album in its entirety was great. I really do enjoy the older stuff from Guster. I realized that night, however, that I will never ever again get a Guster concert that I will really truly enjoy like the ones at Clutch Cargos or in Portland, ME. With all their newer stuff, their older stuff kind of gets pushed to the wayside (save their most popular oldies). But the old stuff is what I want! It was such a sad and depressing thought at the time. Hell, I'm still sad and depressed about it. Sigh. I mean, I'll still go to the shows and probably enjoy myself, but it won't be the same level of joy. Does that make sense?

~My top three songs of the night: 1) "X-Ray Eyes" (I always gravitate towards this one on my playlist for some reason, so it was nice of them to play it. I don't think I've ever heard it live!), 2) "Either Way" (They did a real nice job with this one tonight.), 3) "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" (They are going to play this at every concert from here on out...it's an absolute crowd favorite, and Brian is great on his drums).

~One more note on the crowd. I was curious to see what kind of audience would show up to the show. I was worried it would be a younger crowd, but it wasn't. The crowd appeared to be mostly post-college grads, in their late twenties. That made me happy to see, as it appears Guster's fan base will get old with Guster. The last thing I wanted is to be a fifty year old guy at a Guster concert with 20-somethings. I'm glad it appears I will be with my fellow senior citizens when the day comes.

~Mikey D