Guster invades JMU
New and old fans rocked with alternative threesome at UPB’s fall Convocation show
By Jacob Wilson, contributing writer
Posted on October 12, 2006

Andy’s hair hung in his eyes as he crouched down behind some crates out of sight. He was dressed in all black and didn’t want to be seen until he could successfully make the hand-off with his target. All of a sudden he jumped up with his package, took several deliberate strides out of the dark concealment behind the crates, and prepared to make the switch.

No, Andy was not involved in organized crime or some special undercover spy mission. He was one of Guster’s techies, a guy who seemed to almost work harder than the band itself throughout their Convocation show Monday night.

For virtually every song the band played, one or more members would switch instruments, and it was Andy’s job to get the guitars ready for each new song and then run onstage to give them to the musicians.

Aside from guitars, Guster brought with them such varied instrumentation as a trumpet, a lap slide guitar, keyboards and two laptops, a banjo and, of course, Brian Rosenworcel’s complex stand-up hand-drum set. The one thing missing was a cowbell, but Ryan Miller, Guster’s lead singer, took care of that problem easily.

“I want you all to dig deep…and pull out your inner cowbells for this song,” Miller said to the crowd.

All in all, Guster brought 14 different guitars to the Convo stage, and with all of Andy’s running back and forth, it wouldn’t be surprising if each one got played at least once.

But Andy wasn’t the only one working hard to make this year’s fall Convocation show a success. UPB volunteers spent over nine hours on Sunday, and more time Monday, to transform what is normally a college basketball gym into a fog-filled and colorfully lit concert venue.

“There’s a lot that goes into it,” said junior Haley Rice, a member of UPB’s marketing committee. “People don’t realize when they go to a concert how much time we spend.”

The JMU students who attended the concert would probably agree that it was time well spent. The entire audience was constantly on its feet, at times cheering, swaying, jumping, pumping fists and singing along.

“They were fabulous,” said junior Erin Coffman. “I saw [Guster] at The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach  on a whim and loved them, but this show was a lot better.”

It wasn’t just newly recruited Guster fans who enjoyed the show, however, even seasoned Guster buffs thought the concert was great.
“Guster was phenomenal as usual,” said junior Jamie Witbeck. “I’ve seen them six times, but this show was nice because it was the last one of their tour and they played a good mix of new and old stuff.”

Some of those old favorites were revamped for the live performance. Multi-instrumental touring member Joe Pisapia plucked a banjo melody that added a very pleasant layer to “Barrel of a Gun.” On “Airport Song” the addition wasn’t nearly as pleasant, with Miller singing into a modulator that made him sound like a demon from the underworld.

Though most of the audience didn’t show up until Guster came onstage, a good number still got to see the two opening acts, Copeland and JMU’s own Eddie Cain Irvin.

Copeland, though its lead singer was sick, still managed to put on a fairly strong live performance. Described as “mellow indie rock” by the concert’s promoter and Center Stage committee head Chris Beach, they lived up to their label, playing slow, heavy rock tunes.

“I’ve been a fan for a while and they were really good live, even though he was sick,” said junior Erin Clott.

Appearing before Copeland, Eddie Cain Irvin and his band played a short but high-energy, professional set. Cain’s upbeat keyboard-centered songs were reminiscent of Ben Folds, ranging from key-pounding excitement to softer, more emotional playing. His vocal stylings could be compared to those of Jason Mraz, rapidly singing out tongue-twisting lyrics.

It might sound pretentious to compare a college student to such talented musicians, but Irvin took piano lessons from age five to the end of high school. Even so, with such big names in front of them, the group still felt their size.

“The stage looked enormous,” said junior John Kronstain, Cain’s drummer. But that didn’t stop them from wowing the crowd.

“Eddie Cain was really good,” Clott said. “I was at TDU the other night when he played and didn’t stay, and now I regret it.”

After Guster performed the  last song of the set, Miller requested a Queen-style “boom-boom-clap” cheer to get his band back up for the encore. Almost immediately after walking off stage, Guster returned to play four more songs. They make no pretenses about encores actually being spontaneous.

With the crowd cheering as loud as ever, Guster finished its show and walked off stage. The audience tried to win a second encore by repeating the “Queen clap,” but the trick didn’t work twice. They gave up when the house lights flickered back on to reveal Andy-the-techie picking up Guster’s discarded instruments.