Guster & Ben Folds @ Wolf Trap

I was surprised not to see anyone talking about this so I'll open it up. All in all, good show… at my favorite outdoor venue.

Highlights included Guster's preannounced encore with Ben Folds- "All The Way Up To Heaven," Army- where the crowd did a pretty good job with the bah bah baaahs, the cooler of beer we brough in, and awesome weather for a show.

Low point- My roommate forgot the f*cking tickets. (I never thought this would ever happen.) This! after I even asked if he had the tickets before we left Bethesda. He didn't realize he left the tickets on the ticket board until we were about to go through the gates. An full hour of traffic later and we walked in on the middle of Rufus' set. So- in retrospect we didn't miss too much.

Guster Set List:

06.29.04 Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA

Ramona
Barrel Of A Gun
I Spy
Backyard
Amsterdam
Airport Song
Two At A Time
Happier
Come Downstairs & Say Hello
The Boy With The Arab Strap
Demons
Fa Fa
=====================
All The Way Up To Heaven (w/Ben Folds on piano and Sean Lynde on drums & sleigh bells)

(From guster.com)

I shoulda gone. I really enjoy Guster, and would have been interested to see Ben Folds (Rufus…whatever, seems like he'd be a bit boring, but what do I know). I was at Wolftrap Monday and it was just a stunning night out. Really great weather, and the cooler in hand is great – a cold six pack of your choosing for what they charge for one…plus snacks from Whole Foods!

Glad you had a good show experience, minus the ticket fiasco. Wolftrap is really a gem. Every time I go I think I should go more often…

I read on this very board that Guster sucks. Is that not true? Please enlighten me, I'm so confused.

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
I read on this very board that Guster sucks. Is that not true? Please enlighten me, I'm so confused.

Obviously people have different tastes in music… but I like happen to like Guster. Granted their music as become more popy (read worse)over the years, they still put on a good show. In my opinion their first studio album is their best- Parachute.

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
I read on this very board that Guster sucks. Is that not true? Please enlighten me, I'm so confused.

guster isn't bad, per se, they just dont' strike me as anything too original..

i would have loved to have gone to that show. it's a shame i was still in boston last night though. i've never seen ben folds and that would have been awesome… rufus actually isn't that boring live, bags!! i have seen him twice and really enjoyed it. then again that's just my opinion ;)

glad the weather was nice for the show too – so the lawn seats really weren't that undesirable …

I was there. Guster are a tad boring for my tastes. Rufus was great. I think you are either in the love him or hate him category, and there's nothing you can do about it. Pretty witty guy though.

Ben Folds was better than I thought. First time seeing him, and he put on quite a show. Left before the encore though. "Careless Whisper" duet with Ben and Rufus was aweseom I thought. Weather was fantastic. Good food, a very enjoyable night.

Some people go crazy over Guster, they're just not my thing.
I would have liked to have seen Rufus and Ben Folds.
I've never been to Wolftrap actually. I'd opt for seats though, just incase of an afternoon rainstorm.

it was a great show. my fourth ben folds without a band show, though…i miss him having a band.

it was nice that the gusters joined him for 2 songs and that he joined them for 1.

the rufus/ben careless whispers duet was great. rufus has a very interesting voice.

if your in baltimore, you can see the show all over again (with Rufus, then Ben, and then Guster closing) at the pier/pavillion at the
inner harbor.

lawn was soldout so i skipped. seen ben fold/five like 5 times anyway

Originally posted by i do not heart your balls:
rufus actually isn't that boring live, bags!! i have seen him twice and really enjoyed it. then again that's just my opinion ;)

I believe you! That was just my impression from his music. He doesn't float my boat particularly (something about his vocals rubs me the wrong way).

Meanwhile I really like Guster, and that's a surprise to me. Their major fanbase seems to veer towards the more jammy…the show I saw in San Fran was a lot of neuvo hippies (but then again, it was San Fran!). Still, I like the one album of theirs I have, and their live show was exhilarating & fun.

El Tee, you should hit the 'Trap. I prefer seats myself – you can picnic on the side lawn, then leave your cooler outside the barn but go in for seats. [And I also consider rain, esp. in DC summers.] The lawn is SO sloped that it's an odd sitting surface for long. But, fun, either way you do it.

Originally posted by pond:
…i miss him having a band.

Dunno if you are interested, but Darren Jesse (drummer Ben Folds Five) has a new band, Hotel Lights. Playing Clarendon Grill w/ Dillon Fence, Aug. 4.

Originally posted by Bagalicious Tangster:

Originally posted by i do not heart your balls:
rufus actually isn't that boring live, bags!! i have seen him twice and really enjoyed it. then again that's just my opinion ;)

you should hit the 'Trap.

Well…when you put it like that:)…yeah, crazy I've never been. Wish I had known people headed out last night. I don't know what else I'm interested in for the rest of the concert series for the summer…thanks for the info Bags.

Originally posted by obidly:
Low point- My roommate forgot the f*cking tickets. (I never thought this would ever happen.) This! after I even asked if he had the tickets before we left Bethesda. He didn't realize he left the tickets on the ticket board until we were about to go through the gates. An full hour of traffic later and we walked in on the middle of Rufus' set. So- in retrospect we didn't miss too much.

for future reference, if you forget your tix you can just go to the will call window and they'll reprint them for you. it'll cost you $1/ticket, but beats having to drive home.

i wanted to catch this show..but yeah, the frickin lawn sold out and they weren't giving staff comps

The show was great; I was impressed at how faithfully Guster covered Belle & Sebastian, complete with faux Scottish accents.

They sounded really great when playing with Ben Folds. I agree that their oldest albums are best. I wish that they would just start backing Ben Folds as some sort of super-group, and let him do the writing. They'd be the best conga-and-piano-based band in the business.

At Wolf Trap, Subtlety Gets Lost in the Mix

By Pamela Murray Winters
Special to the Washington Post
Thursday, July 1, 2004; Page C05

For all its numerous charms, Wolf Trap's Filene Center isn't the best place to appreciate musical subtlety. (The yearly performance of the "1812 Overture," complete with cannons, is a good match for the cavernous space.) Rufus Wainwright's wry lyrics, Guster's interplay of unexpected instruments, Ben Folds's delicate piano coloration – all were swept away in Tuesday's maelstrom of broad gestures, teenybopper raptures and volume-volume-volume.

It was a particular shame that Wainwright seemed overmatched by a sound system that muddied his elegant vocals and piano. His genius still shone through, though, in bravura renditions of "La Complainte de la Butte," from the film "Moulin Rouge," and "Grey Gardens." (It may have been a shot at the crew who, during his lovely version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," drenched the stage in Shrek green.)

Guster, which builds its sound on twin guitars, percussion and occasional forays into rhythmic banjo, delighted in shifts from Beatlesque pop to newgrass/tabla breakdowns and back again. Songs such as the ebullient hit "Amsterdam" far excelled the more experimental stuff, which came off as unnecessarily showy – though the pretty girls in the handmade "I H Guster" shirts would surely differ.

As for Folds, he attacked his piano with such passion that he generally crouched before it, as if a mere stool couldn't hold him. This Elton John for the smart new-century set actually managed to hush the shrieking hordes with a quiet tribute to the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, which followed the expected line "It's too late" with the unexpected, unsettling "Don't you know it's been too late for a long time." Folds was more interested, though, in stirring up the audience at evening's end, dividing it into sections and, standing atop the Baldwin, conducting it in three-part harmony.

The evening's best moments saw the three acts, which are co-billed on a month-long tour, mixing it up: Guster joining Wainwright on his dad Loudon's "One Man Guy," Folds at Guster's center for "All the Way Up to Heaven," and Folds and Wainwright giving an impassioned reading of George Michael's "Careless Whisper."

Originally posted by Lane:
I wish that they would just start backing Ben Folds as some sort of super-group, and let him do the writing. They'd be the best conga-and-piano-based band in the business.

LOL… Ya think Velvet Revolver is going to reignite the super-group fad of the 70's?

Originally posted by MaLo:
QUOTE]for future reference, if you forget your tix you can just go to the will call window and they'll reprint them for you. it'll cost you $1/ticket, but beats having to drive home.
[/QB]

Thanks for the tip. :)