Guster, DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, DC

What happens when the love of a band and the hatred of a venue collide

I should start off this post with a little context about the band and the venue. First, the band: I love Guster and have been a fan since high school. I’ll still always prefer their earlier work to their more current albums, but I think that everything they have released has been pretty solid. I’ve been to at least half a dozen, perhaps more, of their shows as well and always enjoy them. You’d think I’d look forward to their show then, right? Well, not this time around because, second, the venue: I hate DAR Constitution Hall. I hate the fact that the layout is all seated – leaving it with a lot of bad views and no pit, meaning that the audience is disconnected from the performers and not encouraged to dance. I hate the acoustics and the speakers’ inability to create a panasonic experience. I hate that while they do sell very overpriced booze, they don’t allow drinks in the auditorium and instead they must be gulped down in the hallway. I’ve been disappointed with almost every show that I’ve seen at DAR, so it was only when my friend Erica had an extra ticket and I didn’t have much else planned for the evening that I decided to go along to the show.

That being said, I happily found that my love of the band ended up trumping my hatred for the venue. Another big help was that our group of four of us had our own opera box that was high enough to see the stage, but low and close enough to still be integrated with the band and other fans. The fear of blocking the view of others didn’t stop us from standing up and dancing for the entire set, which no doubt also added to the fun of the experience. Though Guster did work a number of their newer songs into the set, most of which I enjoyed, they also did us older fans a favor and played a lot of their old classics, which was much appreciated. The highlight was a little over halfway through the set when during “Happier,” our little group did our own rendition in our box during which everyone in the group knew what to do when I pointed to half of it and said “Ryan’s part” and the other half and said “Adam’s,” and we were able to develop a nice, if slightly offkey, harmony. If you’re not a fan, you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about. If you are, there’s a chance I might have requested the same thing from you at one point or another. Anyway, that one moment was worth the price of admission, the rest of the show including ping pong balls flying during “Airport Song,” a completely unplugged version of “Jesus on the Radio,” and my personal favorite song, “Demons,” were all just a bonus.

Setlist:

The Captain

Architects & Engineers

Barrel of a Gun

This Could All Be Yours

Demons

Beginning of the End

Satellite

Do You Love Me

That's No Way to Get to Heaven

Bad Bad World

Backyard

Come Downstairs and Say Hello

What You Call Love

Amsterdam

Either Way

Happier

G Major

Airport Song

Wipeout (Cover)

Careful

Manifest Destiny

Hang On/My Life (Cover)

Jesus on the Radio