There were days when a refrain would brighten our corner, and today is that day! Enjoy a recording of Guster performing the first of two nights at The Mishawaka!
On a rare, overcast Colorado day, Guster made their debut at one of the State’s hidden gems: The Mishawaka Amphitheater out in Bellvue, Colorado. The venue is a quaint establishment sitting right on the Cache la Poudre River, which carved out the Poudre Canyon. It is an intimate space, holding an audience just under 1,000, in a laid-back atmosphere that embodies all things Colorado – an idyllic place to see Guster perform their “jam band adjacent” (as Ryan would put it) melodic mastery.
The band started the set with “Ramona”, the opening track off their fourth studio album, “Keep It Together”. Afterward, Ryan commented on the odd nature of putting a venue on the side of the road, quipping, “where do we park? Figure it out later!”, a sentiment surely shared by the majority of the crowd who had to take the venue’s shuttle to and from Fort Collins. The show continued with on-point performances of “The Captain”, “Architects & Engineers”, and “Hello Mister Sun”, which felt especially apropos as a giant rainbow haloed the side of the canyon during opener Esther Rose’s set.
After improvising a song about “Jew Dads”, Guster played several more fan favorites, including “Terrified”, “Satellite”, and “Doin’ It By Myself”, the latter of which featured Ryan singing the title line directly into the mics of my taper rig after he hopped off stage and made his way through the audience. Oddly enough, 99% of the time I record shows, we use duct tape to hold the mic stand onto the ground or floor to ensure it won’t fall over. However, this particular time (and previously when Ryan did this to my rig at the Breckenridge Brewery show) the tape wouldn’t stick to the ground, which made it easy for us to lower the mics and allow for a fairly simple transition. As they say, “everything happens for a reason.” Invariably, that reason might be Guster performing “Doin’ It By Myself”.
After some funny banter featuring Ryan’s speculation of how the venue came to be (he actually wasn’t too far off, except for the whole Haluburton thing), they busted into the feverish opening strums of “Red Oyster Cult”, launching us into the show’s second half. Some second half highlights included the always powerful “Come Downstairs And Say Hello”, the reflective “Do You Love Me”, and the nostalgic “Homecoming King” (featuring a bit of a botched “Top Gun Anthem” outro). There was also some great banter following a fan request for “Ruby Falls”, which they did not play (possibly because the fan hesitated when asked if their dog was really named “Ruby Falls”), and some playful ribbing of a girl in the audience who was about to enter her sophomore year of High School, questioning whether or not she is really starting school on a Wednesday and sarcastically telling her that “high school is really fun, and no one is ever mean to you”. At one point Ryan asked if this next song was about high school, to which Brian answered, “they’re ALL about high school”. Such is art. If you are somehow reading this, Sophia, I hope your first day of sophomore year went well.
The main set ended with one of the band’s most popular songs, “Barrel Of A Gun”, predicated by its patented manic instrumental and frantic djembe intro. The seismic shift in fan-singing by the end of a Guster show is categorically large. Guster fans love to sing along, but songs like “Barrel Of A Gun” take it to an elevated level. Maybe people just like counting down. Next, they performed the rare “Mona Lisa” off of their first record, “Parachute”, another possible nod to the rain as the chorus exclaims, “I used to sit and watch the pouring rain”. Ryan then shifted over to the piano for a take on “Bad Bad World” before closing out the show with another fan-favorite (they’re ALL fan-favorites), “Demons”.
Guster is the kind of band you want to see at The Mishawaka, a band that creates a unique experience beyond just music. Through engagement, honesty, and some humor, they’ve cultivated a remarkably strong community of caring and highly dedicated fans. This makes any show great, but add the beautiful scenery, and you’ve got yourself a transcendent musical stew going. And with songs that burrow deep into your heart and burst out of your chest when they’re performed like some sort of musical Alien Sigourney Weaver would have to kill to save mankind… I’m not sure how she fits into the metaphor, maybe she’s rain? Either way, Guster is for Lovers–or at the very least music lovers, that is for sure.
Guster | 2023-08-01 | The Mishawaka Amphitheatre, Bellvue, CO
-= One Set =-
01. (Intro)
02. Ramona
03. The Captain
04. Architects & Engineers
05. Hello Mister Sun
06. (“Jew Dads” Banter/Improv)
07. Backyard
08. Hang On
09. All The Way Up To Heaven
10. Terrified
11. Doin’ It By Myself[1]
12. Lightning Rod
13. Satellite
14. (“Chuck’s Venue” Banter)
15. Red Oyster Cult
16. I Spy
17. Come Downstairs And Say Hello
18. Do You Love Me
19. Kid Dreams
20. (“Play Ruby Falls” and “High School Is Really Fun” Improv/Banter)
21. Homecoming King[2]
22. Barrel Of A Gun
-= Encore =-
23. (Encore Break Banter)
24. Mona Lisa
25. Bad Bad World
26. (“Thanks For Coming” Banter/Improv)
27. Demons
Show Notes: This was Guster’s debut performance at The Mishawaka Aphitheatre. This was the first night of a two-night run. Esther Rose opened the show.
[1] During “Doin’ It By Myself” Ryan walked over to the mic stand and sang the songs tag line into the mics.
[2] “Homecoming King” contained a “Top Gun Anthem” jam in the outro.
Taper Notes: FOB DFC Mics setup around 20′ in front of stage and ~7′ in the air PAS.
LINK: https://archive.org/details/guster2023-08-01.StudioProjects.C4.MKII.cards.AUD.FLAC16bit
