Lenox — Tanglewood will host alternative rock band [Guster on September 2, with tickets for the show going on sale Monday, June 12. The Boston-based group has been active since they got together in 1991 at Tufts University with a lineup of acoustic guitars and bongos. They broke nationally only in 1999 with their third studio album, “Lost and Gone Forever.” That album yielded the Adult Top 40 single “Fa Fa,” a song that is considerably smarter than the title might lead you to expect. In any case, the cut is a well-constructed, imaginatively arranged, tightly performed, cleanly produced pop confection, which is what actually counts. Because such is Guster’s stock in trade.
Alternative rock? Isn’t that an odd term to use when describing a band that’s been together for over three decades? Alternative to what?
In 1991, Guster offered an alternative to rock music of the 1980s and most definitely to “classic” rock and the testosterone-fueled glam and arena rock of acts like Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Kiss, and other bands fronted by posturing stallions.
Today, Guster continues to provide an alternative to the glitz and bravado of ultra-commercialized rock and pop. And if you’ve heard the band’s music, then you don’t need anyone to tell you that these guys write straightforward pop songs with melodies and audible lyrics that anyone can understand. That makes them worth listening to, even if you’ve never heard of them. Fans readily name their favorite Guster tunes and sing them loudly during performances.
There’s no telling how the Boston Symphony is going to feel about this, but Guster fans have established a quarter-century tradition of throwing ping pong balls at the stage during the band’s performance of the “Airport Song,” a cut off their second album (1997) that reached No. 35 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart with the assistance of an outro that features the sound of bouncing ping pong balls.
Guster’s fans connect with the band’s songs on a deeply emotional level, because the lyrics tell stories people can relate to. For example, the 2018 single “Satellite,” the band’s first gold record, elicited this comment from a YouTube fan: “This song is criminally underrated.” Another, addressing the band directly, wrote, “You understand that there is more than just the outside of people. My best friend Mia committed suicide four years ago and the thought of her brings me pain, but when I found this song I thought of her and the people I have today. That keeps me up and running and staying alive. Thank you.”
And there you have it: Guster is all about songs that resonate with listeners. But that doesn’t explain everything. Their arrangements are inventive and a bit audacious, their performances tight, their mixes clear.
Guster performed with the Boston Pops for the first time in 2005 and on several subsequent occasions. They made their Tanglewood debut in 2013. In 2015, Mayor Marty Walsh declared January 15 Guster Day in Boston.
Get tickets here on Monday, June 12, for Guster’s appearance at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall on Saturday, September 2. Tickets for Tanglewood’s previously announced popular artists concerts are already on sale through their website.
