Guster and From Bears at the Orange Peel

Last Tuesday was the fourth time I've seen Guster. They played the Orange Peel, a top-ranked venue (with an iconic enormous ceiling fan) in Asheville, NC. A local band, From Bears, from Boone, NC, opened for Guster. It was the second time that I was able to see Guster for free by volunteering with Reverb (http://reverb.org/), an organization formed by Adam Gardner of Guster, and his wife, Lauren.

From Bears, comprised of Ben Taylor, Matt Nemeth, Doug Little & Trent Mason, was the pleasant surprise of the evening. The two lead vocalists both had great voices, and the songs were a blend of catchy, clever, and cool. Links to my two current favorites From Bears tunes that you should click on immediately lest you be deprived of their awesomeness:

"Noiseless," off their Drone Star EP and "Crunch",a single I found on their Bandcamp site. And heck, while you're clicking on links, you should listen to "Stranger to Mass Confusion" too, which I keep finding myself playing on repeat in my head.

From Bears:

Back to Guster, I had a chance to meet them afterwards (a perk of Reverb volunteering), and chat about sundry topics. They put on a great show and has a set list that really clicked with my personal favorites of theirs. Guster formed in 1991 and hail from my own home stomping grounds of Boston.

I had a chance to snap some photos with individual band members as well:

with Ryan Miller

with Adam Gardner

with Brian Rosenworcel

with Luke Reynolds

My favorite Guster songs, in no particular order, and subject to change:

Song - Album - Year

1. Manifest Destiny - Ganging Up On the Sun - 2006
2. Kid Dreams - Evermotion - 2015
3. Architects & Engineers - Easy Wonderful - 2010
4. Satellite - Ganging Up On the Sun - 2006
5. Demons - Goldfly - 1996