How Wuss Rock Won My Heart : Guster Changed Everything

My junior year had just begun at Eastern Michigan University. My roommate Dawn and I had just moved back into our dorm room. It was amazing how much we had missed that place. It was not much, but it was our home from late August until the end of April. One of the things that Dawn and I had in common was that music was a huge part of our lives. We were both musicians and we both involved with music on campus in some capacity. Our mutual interest in music was about to lead me into a new role, and a new phase in my life.

We had no sooner moved in the furniture when there was a knock at the door. It was a friend ours was obsessed with Moxy Fruvous, a Canadian band. She had spent the summer following the band on tour and in the process had been introduced to another little known band’s music. That band was Guster. She became instantly addicted to their most recent release. With that CD in hand she began to spout their praises and convinced us to let her play the CD for us.

She put in the CD and I was almost instantly drawn to it. Everyone was surprised that “I” was even interested in it. That annoyed me to no end. Their wuss rock was not like any of the rock/metal/punk music I had been listening to; however, the sound was still solid. It may not be something that I usually listened to, but I liked it nonetheless. It made me mad that even my own friends had fallen into the trap of making assumptions about my subculture. The Cure and Nine Inch Nails are widely different in style, but both are classified as “Goth” bands. Plus behind the sweet pop instrumentals were words of hurt and anger. Guster lyrics are not upbeat, which is a contrast to their melodies. Anyone who had heard the song “Demons” could not argue otherwise. This combination intrigued me.

I went to the Guster website to order myself a copy of the CD, and I discovered they would be paying in Ann Arbor in about two weeks. Dawn and I were both interested hearing if they were any good in concert, so we ordered the tickets. The day of the concert we made the drive to downtown Ann Arbor and made our way to the Michigan Theater. The venue was a movie palace. I had been there before, but this was Dawn’s first time. She looked at the detailed high ceilings. It is one of the few old movie palaces that still had its orchestra pit and its original pipe organ still in working order. We took our seats, and began to notice that many of the people there already knew each other. Guster was not a well known band, but they did have a strong following in some campuses. The University of Michigan was one of these campuses. They all were very nice a welcoming. Some of the fans even seemed more excited than we were about our first concert.

Soon the show was under way. The opening band did not impress me. I’m sure they could pull their sound and energy off in the studio, but live was not so good. I was scared that Guster would be more of the same, but thankfully I was wrong. Guster took the stage in an ordinary matter, but within seconds everything changed. The diehard fans went crazy as they started the first song. It was from their new album that had only been released on Tuesday, but all of the fans knew the words. Actually, they knew all the words to every song. They knew the added/alternative lyrics and all the other concert traditions. Musically, I think they sounded better live than they did on their album. Then there was the drummer.

He played everything with his hands. His hands and arms would start moving at the beginning of the song and not stop until the song was over. Brian was a show on his own; it was amazing to watch.

The defining moment of the evening happened about halfway through the set. They played “Either Way,” a song from their new album. It began slowly, and I thought it was the “token ballad,” but then the lead singer started the first verse, and the lyrics stuck a chord with my heart. At that very moment I went from being a Guster fan to a Guster fanatic.

Much of my live has changed since that moment, but my love for Guster has not faded one bit. I still do rep work for them, selling CD’s, putting up posters and stuff. I go to as many shows as possible. I have taken trains, road tripped with relative strangers, and made some great friends along the way. I may be one of the few Goths in the audience, but I am there nonetheless. I am there singing every word to every song, even the added ones. I know all the traditions and I show up to every show prepared to carry them out. I throw ping pong balls during the “Airport Song” and pixie sticks during “Frappy Happy.”

I blow bubbles during “Either Way.” It is still my favorite song, the guys even dedicated it me for my birthday last July in Chicago. I can’t imagine my life with out these three Jewish guys (and now one non Jewish guy from Nashville) from Tufts University. Now I can’t wait to see what else it will bring.