Guster w/ Kishi Bashi
Neptune Theater, Seattle WA
03.30.15
I adored Guster ten years ago, and I am thrilled to say that I feel the same love, if not more, towards them today. The Neptune stage was filled by Guster, plus two additional rotating band members and a wide array of instruments. These guys do not travel light. Two drum sets, numerous guitars, a trumpet, trombone, piano, keyboard, xylophone, banjo, tambourine, and a harmonica round out most of what I could keep tabs on from last night’s show.
Music aside (which was so incredible it makes me smile ear to ear), this show proved flat-out entertaining. Usually at the end of a song there is a moment where the crowd wraps up their applauding and cheering and the band starts into another song or the lead singer fills some time with dialogue. Not Guster. Not last night. Lead singer Ryan Miller jumped right into a self-proclaimed, extra long “awkward silence.” To his enjoyment, and to further test the boundaries of the awkward silence, Miller requested that the crowd participate in an anti-encore, where if we really loved the show and wanted the band to come back on stage, then we must all sit in silence (“and don’t be that guy who shouts out and ruins everything, fuck that guy!”) The request was clear. What wasn’t clear was whether the crowd would oblige…
To my complete joy and surprise, instead of cheering and screaming, the theater fell quiet. A few attempted to be the classic yelling idiot out to ruin it all, but that was short-lived, as even more overwhelming shhhh’ing ensued. The anti-encore was a success and Miller loved every second of it. “That was so fucking weird, I loved it. You are all so weird”. It was weird, and maybe this is the type of thing you can only get away with in a weird city like Seattle. Three more songs followed, including the classic hit “One Man Wrecking Machine,” and it was a great way to end the evening, or so one may assume.
After the band went off stage, the crowd just kept cheering. Part could be due to the pent up screams that were suppressed during the great awkward silence. As the cheering grew louder and louder, Guster came back on stage. Miller ripped his set list off the stage, pointed to the last song, explaining, “Now this is a real encore and you guys earned it”. And the reward? An acoustic, unplugged version of “Jesus on the Radio.” At the edge of the stage, the band played as hard and as loud as they could. With the entire sold-out theatre singing back at them, it was a truly special and well-deserved encore. Not your typical cheesy end to a show, and certainly unexpected. A perfect end to a perfect show.
Before Guster took the stage and blew everybody’s minds with their spectacular set, a different type of performance took the stage. It is rare to witness completely inspiring, raw talent: a one man show – one man named Kishi Bashi. He entertained with an interesting mash of musical styles with some pretty abrupt transitions. It all left me wondering what was going to happen next. His obvious talent with the violin makes me want to dust off my old instrument, or, in the very least, finally master “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” after all of this time.
Review by Allie Leaf
Photos by Logan Westom
Guster
Kishi Bashi
