Back to Main  |  Back to Reviews Page

Reviews From 08-16-2002
Submitted to Guster.net by Nicholas

08-16-2002
Greek Theatre, Berkeley, Ca


Guster's performance at the Greek theatre truly captured the essence of what the night could have been, had they been given the proper respect to headline the show.The flawless performance given by Guster was absolutely amazing to listen to, with a solid set list, thorough improvisatons on the drums, and a beautiful setting at the Greek theatre. But the one disturbing fact that seemed rediculouly evident, especially when no encore was given, was that the term Co-Headline couldnt have been further from the truth. Even the local radio stations, in the days leading up to the concert, had hyped the it as being a "John Mayer Show". In my opinion, it would be very difficult to deam Guster as a headliner under any circumstance because of simple fact that they performed prior to Mayer. Put simply, I generally felt it was an insult to their own incredible talent to be put in sold out show where neary 90% of the crowd had come for someone else. To hear Happier played so beautifully in front of huge crowd, but to only be able to hear a small group of fans who knew the words, speaks volumes about the types of people who attended this concert. Guster deserved fans who knew their songs, they deserved to headline this show.

Submitted to Guster.net by Wendy

08-16-2002
Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA


A few years ago I saw Guster for the first time when they opened for the Bare Naked Ladies. I was already a fan and got the tickets mainly to see Guster - my husband thought I was crazy (he's a big BNL fan). We went to the show and loved it and I converted my husband. Last night we went and saw them again - once again I got the tix to see Guster, not John Mayer. The John Butler band came out and played and were pretty good, but made the mistake of not telling anyone who they were. So, most people spent the time they were playing asking around about who it was. We didn't figure it out till much later when I saw a t-shirt at the t-shirt stand with their name on it. Then Guster came out - a lot of the people around us didn't know who they were, but were seemed pretty into it by the end. Was a great show by Guster, wish it had been longer. They did seem to lack a little bit of the energy and enthusiasm we remembered them having the first time we saw them, but still - GREAT SHOW!
Then John Mayer came on - coming into the show we both enjoyed his music, we left the show very disappointed. He did WAY too much talking - the more words he said, the more we didn't like him. Can't describe it, but something about him just rubbed us both the wrong way. The music was ok, but he went off jamming a few too many times for my taste (especially since I'm not a major fan). Was a big let down for us to end the night on John Mayer, kind of took away from the Guster experience which is too bad. Maybe they'll be headlining themselves next time we get to see them! They need to come out to the sf bay area more often.

Submitted to Guster.net by Zubin Desai

08-16-2002
Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA


I went to the concert as a huge Guster and John Mayer fan. However, I was pretty frustrated with the huge amount of teenybopper girls at the concert. I have seen John Mayer once in Urbana, IL and I hate to say I am already getting sick of him. Guster was way better than John and I thought that the crowd didn't seem to respect Guster. I overheard several girls say "Who's Guster?" and "Why are they playing so long??" HELLO! They're co-headlining! I thoroughly enjoyed Guster's set although it could have been longer and I wish they had played Love for Me, Window, and Eden. I am afraid John Mayer is going to sell out to cater to the little girls who seem to think of John as a pop star and not a rock star. Guster was great and I cannot wait till they do a headlining tour of their own. Although the two bands were labeled as co-headliners on Guster's website, John clearly had the majority of the fans and also had a lot more playing time than Guster. I just hope that the next time Guster does a tour for fans who are oblivious to their existence that they take the liberty to research the band first. The Guster fans that were at the concert were very cool. I was singing and dancing to all their songs and this girl came to me and said "I just wanted to say you are awesome! Guster rules!" The rest of the crowd could have done some more dancing than just standing there waiting for John to come out. I wish Guster had done an encore but they didn't. But all in all, it was a great concert in a great setting and I can't wait till Guster comes around this way again.