Guster & Rhett Miller, Vic Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived well after the doors opened but with enough time to get down towards the front and find a place towards the back of the pit without having to cut in front of anyone. The opening act was Rhett Miller, lead singer of the Old 97s, an alternative country band that I just became familiar with last year. Not recognizing his name, I didn’t realize what we were in store for until after I was in the building. It was a nice surprise to be familiar with quite a few of the opening act’s songs. I think he even played a few hits that I the Old 97s skipped last year at Thalia Hall. I still thinks he looks a bit like the third London brother, though he’s less pretty up close. However, considering I haven’t seen a movie featuring either of them in a couple of decades, they probably don’t look all that good up close either.

Between sets and as Guster was taking the stage, we gradually shuffled a little closer to the middle, though we were never that far from the back railing. Tonight’s performance would be my ninth time seeing Guster, the only bands that I have seen more are my perennial favorites Phish and Dave Matthew Band. Until I actually counted it up, I didn’t realize that it was so many. While I always like seeing Guster, I never set out to see them many times or even realized just how many. It just seems that they’re often in town, have reasonable ticket prices at good venues, and I can usually find a friend interested in going.

Guster now has five members. In addition to the original three –Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner, and Brian “Thundergod” Rosenworcel – multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds joined the band in 2010. They also are touring with an additional drummer/pianist. I’m not sure who he is.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the setlist, which contained a good mix of old and new songs, including five from both Keep It Together (2003) and their latest Evermotion (2015), four from both Lost & Gone Forever (1999), three from both Ganging Up On the Sun (2006) and Easy Wonderful (2010), and one from both Parachute (1995) and Goldfly (1997). They also played a pair of covers, "Nothing But Flowers [Talking Heads]" which they've been playing for many years and has even appeared on their release Guster on Ice: Live from Portland, Maine (2004). While I don’t have a strong emotional connection with their newer music the way I do with their older songs, there are still many that I like. I suspected that I was one of the few in the audience, at least on the floor, familiar with their older stuff. I was one of only a few people on the floor who knew to clap during a notable moment in “All the Way Up to Heaven,” a previously common fan response. They also played “Airport Song,” which was a pleasant surprise. I was under the impression that they didn’t often play that song anymore, so I didn’t bother to bring any ping pong balls. Fortunately, other audience members did have me covered for that one. I was also really happy that they played “Parachute.” At one point in the show, Ryan provided with audience with a choice of three songs. Earlier in the show, he had stepped into the crowd to sing while precariously perched atop a fan’s shoulders. Ryan admitted he agreed when the fan told him that they had “had a moment,” and the fan was allowed to be the deciding vote between the shouts for the three songs. He accidently announced “Parachute” as one of the songs though, which is what the fan decided on. I was very pleased to hear the title track of their debut album, as they don’t frequently play much from it anymore. I wondered if I had ever heard that song live before. Unlike Phish and Dave shows, it’s much hard to run stats of previous Guster setlists. I certainly don’t have recordings of each either.

The end of the show included their standard fake encore, during which they just step to the side of the stage with a clueless look, then pretend to be surprised when they’re invited back. At the end of this first encore, Brian stepped to the mic to cover George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” After actually leaving the stage, they returned for an actual encore, “Jesus on the Radio,” as I’ve seen them do several times before. I feel their whole encore shtick has become a bit disingenuous. Though I’ll admit that I liked being in the know.

Setlsit:
What You Wish For
(Nothing But) Flowers [Talking Heads cover]
Hercules
Doin' It By Myself
Homecoming King
All the Way Up to Heaven
Architects & Engineers
Parachute
Kid Dreams
Manifest Destiny
Airport Song
Ruby Falls
Gangway
Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Amsterdam
Never Coming Down
Ramona
Satellite
Barrel of a Gun
Encore 1:
Long Night
Do You Love Me
Happier
Careless Whisper [George Michael cover]
Encore 2:
Jesus on the Radio