Tag: beacon theatre

Guster is officially old enough to rent a car.

When I’d purchased my solo ticket to Guster’s annual Thanksgiving tour stop at the Beacon Theatre, I’d completely forgotten that it was their 25th anniversary until I showed up to the theatre. When I arrived and saw the displays of all their old tour tshirts, drum sticks, backstage passes, etc. It was super neat. I sat down in my seat and waited for the show to begin, after the opener, The Pisapia Love-In, who was pretty fun, but let’s be honest, we were there to see Guster. The lead singer did come back out during Guster’s set to sing a few songs with them which was fun (1st photo). I sat down just to promptly stand back up the moment they came out. Everyone in the Beacon was excited to be there and so were they. Guster has three main groups of fans: families who have been fans for forever, bros, and nerds. I had a family of four sitting in front of me and their youngest daughter slept through the entire thing. Amazing. 

Ryan announced at the beginning that they were going to play all night and play the longest concert they ever played, and we all cheered, but we knew there were rules. In the end, they ended up playing for about 2.5 hours. A generous concert, indeed! They even brought up one of their oldest fans (in the fourth photo) who has seen them hundreds of times and always makes a point to be super honest and critical about how their performance was. 

They also brought out a choir from Long Island to sing a few songs with them. “We thought it might be fun to have a choir and then my manager goes, ‘I know this choir on Long Island but their audience is mainly the 60-70 year olds,’ and I go ‘Look no further! That is exactly what we’re going for!’” But the choir added a fun element to Empire State and Jesus on the Radio. 

The entire setlist (here) was a good time and I had a great time rockin’ out for two and a half hours. I hope they stick together long enough to celebrate their 50th. I will definitely be there. 

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Gratitude List

I have an alert set on my phone that goes off nightly as a reminder to make a mental list of things I’m grateful for that day. Thanksgiving Day was yesterday and I’ve just gotten done eating a second plate of leftovers today. I’m grateful for that today.

I took the train out to my parent’s house yesterday for an early dinner with most of my mom’s side of the family. A cousin’s fiance commented on my plate above, “Wow, you’re going to eat all of that?!” I’m thankful to have the self control not to punch you in the face. There was lots of talk about the election. I’m thankful that it’s over. I was thankful to see my family, who I hadn’t seen since before I went to Poland. I was also thankful to have the chance to play with their 12-week-old kitten. She’s weighs a whole four pounds now. And she’s cray-cray. 

I stayed the night and left early this morning to return to my apartment for a day of relaxing with Playbill, watching Confirmation on HBO Go and another episode of The Crowns, and tonight I’m going to see Guster at the Beacon Theatre. 

There are still two days left to the holiday weekend. I hope the rest of the weekend has yoga and coffee in it. 

Ticket Karma & The Decemberists at the Beacon Theatre

Last weekend I had an extra comp to Doctor Zhivago on Broadway that I gave an elderly man about 30 minutes before the show. What I call “Ticket Karma” is the fact that doing something nice regarding tickets often leads to people doing nice things for you, regarding tickets. So yes, I give credit to Ticket Karma for my landing a free orchestra, row B ticket to a sold out concert with The Decemberists at the Beacon Theatre on Monday night. 

Years ago I downloaded “The Rake’s Song” from a Starbucks drop card and loved it (even when I listened to the lyrics and realized what the song was really about, I still loved it). I bought the entire album (The Hazards of Love) off iTunes and loved the way it was basically a folk rock opera. I heard they were playing in New York but, like usual, completely zoned out on the date they were going on sale so I missed that completely. But I made a sign saying “Needs 1 Ticket” and stood outside the Beacon before the show. I was offered several different tickets for face value but in pretty shitty seats in the lodge or whatnot. I decided to hold out and I’m glad I did because soon after a gentleman came walking away from the box office and asked, “You need one ticket?” and I nodded and he handed me one and walked away. I looked at it and it was row B of the orchestra. Holy shit, I thought. I thanked him and walked in right behind him, still stunned.

I listened to the opening band, Always, from the lobby because they were kind of loud and terrible. I sipped a beer and stared at my ticket before the opener was done and The Decemberists took the stage.

I admittedly knew none of The Decemberists’ music besides The Hazards of Love, but I loved everything I heard. Their music is great and their talent is enormous. Everyone was on their feet when they played from The Hazards of Love though and eventually ended that portion of the show with The Rake’s Song, during which I lost my shit. 

I had such a good time and I will definitely be back. I totally want to see them at Governor’s Ball this summer. If you get a chance to see them, do it! 

Videos: 

The Rake Song

The Hazards of Love

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