The guys of Guster seemed genuinely surprised by the size of the crowd that came to see them Monday night at the Phoenix. They thanked us all for the biggest turn-out at a Canadian show ever and claimed that they would definitely return despite some unspecified border hassles. The college-scene favourites put on a great show with the majority of tracks coming from their latest album, Ganging Up On the Sun.

I was most impressed with the power and clarity of their three-way vocal harmonies as well as the raw energy brought to the show by their bare-handed percussionist, Brian Rosenworcel. They clearly had some dedicated fans in attendance, who recognized most tracks after a few chords, sang along with the band, and pelted them with ping pong balls at the appropriate point in airport song.

Some of the best performances came in the first encore where happier was my top pick for the night, although I freely admit my bias for their older material. Ruby falls, also part of the encore, had a great Dark Side of the Moon feel before Adam busted out his trumpet solo. The band’s competent cowbell work in c’mon was introduced by Ryan:

For all you stoners out there, I want you to concentrate your attention-deficit-disorder minds to the most glorious instrument in the history of creation. That’s the cowbell motherf***ers!

For the second ‘impromptu’ encore (ok it seemed a little planned), they ditched the microphones and came to the edge of the stage for a great acoustic version of jesus on the radio. They caught most of us by surprise as the house lights and music were already urging us toward the exit. This folky tune was a nice way to end off the night.

Well after the show, the boys came out to mingle with a few of the fans waiting on the snowy Toronto sidewalk. Overall, we couldn’t ask for a better Monday night in the city. Head over to archive.org for a recording of the show already available. Big thanks to Jen for getting us in on the guest list!

Photo credits: eskimo_jo, quinbooka