Guster loves to play SLC
The sky spat down water through the makeshift ceiling to cool the crazed fans screaming at the Guster show April 5 at Bricks in Salt Lake City.
Guster is an acoustic-based college rock band from Boston, Ma. that has been playing together for about 10 years.
“We were friends that formed a band in a dorm room. We used acoustic guitars and bongos because those were the instruments we played,” said Brian Rosenworcel, Guster’s percussionist. “We wanted to play open mic night really badly. We got to do that, and one thing lead to another. We just kept playing these campus shows and making demo tapes.”
Guster doesn’t use the traditional drum kit like most other bands. Rosenworcel flails like a madman over an eclectic assortment of drums. He tapes his three middle fingers up to keep his fingers from splitting open as he plays almost entirely without sticks.
Rosenworcel said Guster has a non-traditional line-up because two guitars and bongo drums worked for them, and they never saw the need to add more members to the band. Guster fans don’t see any need to add members either – except themselves. Everyone wanted in on the action, and after the first song the concert was deemed a sing-along.
Ryan Miller, lead singer and guitarist, said the Salt Lake City show was the only sing-along of the tour and if fans wanted to hear them sing they should leave right then.
Their set list consisted mainly of songs from their most recent album, “Lost and Gone Forever” – Guster’s most commercially successful album to date. Rosenworcel said they were all pleased by the success of the album because it showed their fan base increasing. However, he said they’re all very critical about their albums.
“[‘Lost and Gone Forever’] feels very same the whole way through. There could be some different musical elements in the next record,” said Rosenworcel.
Rosenworcel said the band’s goal right now is to turn out a quality album. He said they focused a lot on live performance and now want to take some time off from their exhausting tour schedule to work on the new record. He said they want to put the same energy they have at a live concert into the album.
Guster definitely put a lot of energy into this show. Everybody was singing and having so much fun that when they announced the end of the set the crowd was far from pleased.
“This is the last song in our set. Then, you’re going to clap really loud and we’re going to come back out and play more songs. That’s how it is in rock and roll,” Miller said.
The crowd went wild, and after its last song the band came out for an encore. The crowd became surprisingly quiet as they listened to an intimate piano duet of “Center of Attention.” They finished up the show with a song off their first album, “Parachute.” Guster has worked hard to be where they are today.
“It’s been tough,” Rosenworcel said, describing how they used to play all day in Harvard Square selling demo tapes. “Now I would never do that.”
He said they would camp out sometimes to get the good spots and play all day. Sometimes they would even get tickets from the city.
In the end, everyone had an amazing time. Rosenworcel said one of their favorite places to play was Salt Lake City.
“For some reason we always have amazing shows here,” Rosenworcel said.
Kami Schuaneveldt, Guster fan and University of Utah student, said, “We’ve wanted to see Guster headlined for so long. The energy here was amazing.”