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Reviews From 03-25-2001
Submitted to Guster.net by Steve

03-25-2001
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA


The night didn't start off too well cause the security split up the guys and the girls, i was split from my entire group, luckily the lines stayed about even so i was just in front of the girls in my group when we got in. Didn't particularly care for the Muhlenberg gym either, wasn't nearly as good of a site as when I saw them outdoors at the brand new quad at UPenn. Now for the actual performance, it was disappointing to see Adam come on stage on crutches but he toughed it out and managed to stand for some songs, I was shocked when they started out with I Spy, it seems like every concert I've heard they start with What You Wish for, I Spy was pretty good, I was surprised when they continued on into the long version of it but it definitely was a good addition. I was immediately impressed by the quality of the lighting. Next was, Happier, one of my favorite Guster songs. After that, they played Bury Me. Next came, the first of two of their new songs. According to Ryan, you can find this song on Napster under "Super Rare-First Time Ever" I definitely liked this song, based on the setlist that was posted, this song is called Ramona, definitely looking forward to this song on the next album. Next was What You Wish For. After that they brought out the cellist from Jump Little Children, to play cello for So Long, which is probably my favorite Guster song, it was definitely a plus for me to hear this one. After So Long, was Airport Song which I feel was the best song of the night. Once they got into Brian's solo toward the end, it was absolutely unbelieveable, the lighting was incredible, strobes going while Brian blitzed through his congo solo like a madman. It was definitely my favorite song of the night. Next came Great Escape. This was probably one of the bigger events of the night. When Ryan got to the bridge in the song, he paused and took out a piece of paper from his pocket, he read " Dear Guster, the National Football League Mascot Convention is this week in Philadelphia, I'd really like it if you could get some mascots to lead the crowd in a wave." after reading the letter, Ryan says, "Well, with Guster, all dreams can come true," sure enough out comes Swoop and Blitz the mascots for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, who start leading the crowd in a wave and dancing on stage. After all that, they played Either Way, which I thought was one of the better songs of the night, next came the 2nd new song, Ryan started the first 15 seconds of it in the wrong key, but we were asked to disregard that as they started over, I thought the song was good but not as good as the first one, don't know the name for that song though. after that came Center of Attention. After that, Ryan started talking about how so may fans request Happy Frappy but they hate playing it cause they feel that they suck at it. So, Ryan says that they're going to play a Muzak version, so out comes a keyboard and Ryan starts playing Happy Frappy with all different keyboard sounds. Next came Demons, then Fa Fa which I thought was pretty good. They left stage then came back for some encores, first was Mona Lisa, always a great song to hear live, next was a cover of Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies, an 80's band, they closed the show with Barrel of a Gun. Overall, it was a great show, the lighting was great, somewhat disappointed with the venue, but what can you do. They're definitely worth seeing a 3rd time.

Steve

"Glad you made it, Welcome to the farm, Who's your daddy, I'm your daddy now"