If you're a Guster fan, and you've been there for the rubber duckies and Big Friend and the ping-pong balls and the vegetable costumes and all the rest, you would have to seriously consider it the peak of your fandom to hear them perform Come Downstairs & Say Hello not just once, but again in an impromptu second encore, at Symphony Hall, backed by the Boston Pops orchestra.
"Holy crap," Ryan said when they got onstage. Holy crap is right. It was an awesome, rare experience. Also, it was just about the strangest Guster show I've been to, considering half the audience were senior citizens. And because the dress code ranged from t-shirts to black tie. At home, Joe and I were confused about what to wear:
"You think my 'Country Music Saved My Soul' shirt is inappropriate?"
"Ehh... it's the Pops."
"But it's also Guster."
"It's at Symphony Hall."
"People are going to wear whatever."
"So I can wear 'Vote for Pedro'?"
"Ehh... I don't know."
We compromised, and I'm glad we did, because we were still on the casual side. Even Guster was dressed up in button-down shirts and pants.
Keith Lockhart and Guster came out onstage to huge cheers. Ryan said, "We'd like to introduce our opening band for tonight, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra," which got a big laugh. The first half of the show was just the Pops. They did 3 pieces: a Stravinsky, a Debussy, and some avant-garde piece involving a video and a "hyper-piano," which is a piano hooked up to a computer so that it plays additional notes while the pianist is playing. It was weird.
After Intermission, Guster came on with the orchestra behind them. They did mellower songs: I Spy, Backyard, Fa Fa, a couple of new ones. They did Two Points for Honesty, which sounded great, and of course Come Downstairs. For their first encore, they did Jesus on the Radio unplugged, with a violinist playing the fiddle parts. They got a standing ovation and came back out, but because they didn't have any more material, Ryan said, "We'll just play my favorite part of the show again," and they played the second half of Come Downstairs a second time, which was really funny and also great because it sounded even better. The first time, people had started clapping, which was annoying because the orchestra is not very loud, especially in the balcony, but the second time the clapping was good because everybody was into it and you could tell Guster was thrilled just to be up there.
I got a kick out of watching all the old people react to Guster. I wonder if they knew what they were getting into. The old guys sitting in front of us were bobbing their heads and clapping and seemed to really enjoy it but their wives were sitting there all stiff and decidedly not cool.
Tired today... I need a night where I can get 10 hours of sleep, because the last 3 nights I've had an average of 6. It's worth it, though. Hopefully work will go by fast.
"Holy crap," Ryan said when they got onstage. Holy crap is right. It was an awesome, rare experience. Also, it was just about the strangest Guster show I've been to, considering half the audience were senior citizens. And because the dress code ranged from t-shirts to black tie. At home, Joe and I were confused about what to wear:
"You think my 'Country Music Saved My Soul' shirt is inappropriate?"
"Ehh... it's the Pops."
"But it's also Guster."
"It's at Symphony Hall."
"People are going to wear whatever."
"So I can wear 'Vote for Pedro'?"
"Ehh... I don't know."
We compromised, and I'm glad we did, because we were still on the casual side. Even Guster was dressed up in button-down shirts and pants.
Keith Lockhart and Guster came out onstage to huge cheers. Ryan said, "We'd like to introduce our opening band for tonight, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra," which got a big laugh. The first half of the show was just the Pops. They did 3 pieces: a Stravinsky, a Debussy, and some avant-garde piece involving a video and a "hyper-piano," which is a piano hooked up to a computer so that it plays additional notes while the pianist is playing. It was weird.
After Intermission, Guster came on with the orchestra behind them. They did mellower songs: I Spy, Backyard, Fa Fa, a couple of new ones. They did Two Points for Honesty, which sounded great, and of course Come Downstairs. For their first encore, they did Jesus on the Radio unplugged, with a violinist playing the fiddle parts. They got a standing ovation and came back out, but because they didn't have any more material, Ryan said, "We'll just play my favorite part of the show again," and they played the second half of Come Downstairs a second time, which was really funny and also great because it sounded even better. The first time, people had started clapping, which was annoying because the orchestra is not very loud, especially in the balcony, but the second time the clapping was good because everybody was into it and you could tell Guster was thrilled just to be up there.
I got a kick out of watching all the old people react to Guster. I wonder if they knew what they were getting into. The old guys sitting in front of us were bobbing their heads and clapping and seemed to really enjoy it but their wives were sitting there all stiff and decidedly not cool.
Tired today... I need a night where I can get 10 hours of sleep, because the last 3 nights I've had an average of 6. It's worth it, though. Hopefully work will go by fast.
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