Guster on Ice Live From Portland Ma

Rating:
Summary: Guster is for Lovers
Review: Guster on Ice is a Great DVD. The fact that you can hear Joe's song "Hide Away" in the acoustics of a stairwell which will be new to Guster Fans, The Live footage is pretty solid. I compare the musicianship to that of James Brown which I'm sure they were were striving for these two nights in Portland, ME to make a perfect DVD. They nailed it! Granted there's the usual band humor you've come to expect with Guster but the songs are solid and the video is professional.

Dave Horgan

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Substitute for the Real Thing
Review: I was at the two shows where Guster filmed for this DVD release, and I know I was skeptical that their energy and sound would translate well to DVD, but I was not disappointed. If you have never seen this amazing band live, you need to, but meanwhile buy this! And if you have seen them, this will get you through those times you need a live Guster fix but they are not touring near you...

The sound quality is great, and Ryan and Adam sound flawless, not to mention that the instrumentals are crisp and clear. The boys were certainly "on" for these shows (2 shows they condensed to one, complete with wearing the same outfits both nights).

What I love most about this DVD, however, are the extras: behind the scenes stuff, bloopers and a great mini-doc about the band and their history together. It is just a great chance to see what goes on "behind the scenes" on a concert tour and also to get to know these four guys a little better.

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!

Rating:
Summary: A Guster Concert only heightens the enjoyment of their music
Review: I've loved Guster for about 5 years now, catching up on past CDs that I didn't know about but it wasn't until recently I saw them live in Concert and I came out an even bigger fan. A lot of bands don't sound great in concert but Guster does and I am happy to say you can experience this for yourself with this Concert DVD. You arent actually there but you might as well be.
Buy the DVD and when they come your town, go see them Live!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent with a couple drawbacks...
Review: Like someone else said, this does a great job of capturing what I feel is the essence of Guster - their live show - when you're itching for a tour, or a tour misses your area. I've seen three Guster shows myself, but I was a bit frustrated by a few things:

1. The constant switching to a grainy home-movie style camera mode. A few times is ok, but not 5 or 6 for every song. Apart from this, some of the other shots aren't too crisp either, but there are some excellent ones (my particular favorite is a few times, a shot from the back of the concert hall that kind of pans across the stage).
2. Too many shots of fans. I bought the dvd to see the band, not devoted fans. Once again, a few times sporadically thrown in is ok, and I understand they're trying to make you feel like you're there (or at least I hope so, otherwise there's not much reason for this). But they went a little overboard with the crowd shots.
3. The panning to different little tiny scenes during key parts of the show only heard live, like the modified intro to "Happier."


The extras are just that. Extras. Nothing too special, but a little something on the side to entertain you. Like I said, I recommend this to the fan who is craving a concert in their town, but if you're trying to make a Guster fan out of your friend or something like that, stick to the music.