Guster Is Bringing Its Own Version of an Eras Tour to Denver

In the wake of the 2025 Grammy Awards, Guster drummer Brian Rosenworcel says that many of the band's opening artists who have joined Guster on tour over the last three-plus decades have later brought home a gold-plated gramophone.

It’s something that has become a running joke in the band’s camp, so much so that it’s become a part of the nightly set. “There’s a moment where I sing a song and go over all the bands that opened for us over the years and went on to win Grammys and it’s a long list. It’s, like, a really long list,” Rosenworcel says with a laugh.

Guster also sells T-shirts that poke fun at the quirky coincidence, including variants specifically highlighting Train, Maroon 5, John Mayer and Black Eyed Peas all with the motto “I saw [artist name] open for Guster.”

Guster has even tried opening for itself over the years, Rosenworcel quips. But despite its Midas touch, the veteran Massachusetts indie outfit is still waiting for the Grammy call. It’s all gravy, though.

“We never had that elusive hit song, but we also were never really trying for it,” Rosenworcel says. “We just built our fanbase through live performance and said, ‘Don’t worry about that stuff.’ We have our touring thing. It’s where we’ve put our focus.”

That’s not to say Guster hasn’t seen its fair share of success since founding members Rosenworcel, Adam Gardner (guitar and vocals) and Ryan Miller (guitar and vocals) first met as Tufts University students and began the band in 1991, even if it was a slower come up.

Keep It Together, Guster’s fourth album that released in 2003, saw two singles — “Careful” and “Amsterdam” — land on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart, while Ganging Up on the Sun (2006) peaked at 25 on the Billboard 200. Ganging Up on the Sun song “Satellite” helped Guster earn its first gold record in 2018, too. And you’d probably recognize some other songs if you’ve ever watched Wedding Crashers (“I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today”), The O.C. (“Keep It Together”) or Disturbia (“One Man Wrecking Machine”). The off-beat quartet has had some hits, but it's maintained more of a cult following than a mainstream mega-stardom career over the years.

Now, the group, which also includes multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds, who joined in 2010, is celebrating its own “eras” by embarking on its biggest production yet. Dubbed the We Also Have Eras tour, a cheeky reference to Taylor Swift’s massive Eras Tour, the setlist spans Guster’s catalog of nine albums, including its most recent, Ooh La La (2024). The show lands in Denver on Friday, February 7, at the Paramount Theatre. There's no opener, so get there on time.
Rosenworcel came up with the idea and wrote the current script that’s been the basis of the show since the run started in September last year. “We had so much fun on the first leg of the Eras tour, we were like a little sad of the idea of it reaching half the country. Denver is one of the city’s we missed, so we’re going to do that,” he shares.

“This thing was a whole other vision of ‘what if we had our own Eras tour, and what would that look like?’ adds Rosenworcel, who is known to Guster fans as "Thundergod," thanks to his percussion propensity as a hand-drummer, particularly during the band’s early days. “So I wrote a script. It was like, thirteen pages long involving all these skits, and we do...a chronological show where we’d visit each album for a few songs and then move on. That’s what it is.”

Already known for its eccentric shows, Guster is certainly taking it up a notch with the concert-turned-stage play. Unfortunately, this Eras tour edition hasn’t been as lucrative as Swift’s, which became the highest-grossing tour ever, as the popstar with multiple Grammys collected north of $2 billion in ticket sales over 149 dates.

“There are a lot of expenses involved in putting these shows on, but I’m happy for Taylor,” Rosenworcel says.

Maybe the most important thing to Guster, however, is that people are getting in on the fun that’s emanating from the stage. “We’re really indulging ourselves,” Rosenworcel admits. “This tour is one where we got way outside our box, but we’ve been eager to. We’ve been touring for so many years and making it feel fresh every time has been a challenge, but something we really want to do. We don’t want to play the some setlist twice.”

Old-school fans can still expect Rosenworcel to take the mic for a cover song or two, and throwing ping-pong balls at the band during “Airport Song” is still encouraged. “It’s an old tradition. There’s a ping-pong match that fades up at the end of the song. We’ve been getting pelted with ping-pong balls on this tour,” he explains.

“Back in the day when it was really happening, and we would play that song every night you could bring your ping-pong ball to the show knowing it would reach its intended target. The whole floor had to be swept with a push broom after the song,” Rosenworcel concludes.

“It’s kind of a waste of ping-pong balls.”

Guster, 8:30 p.m. Friday, February 7, Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place. Tickets are $59.