Guster: Tiny Desk Concert

Guster: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Christine Geiger | August 20, 2025

The first time I saw Guster, the three members of the group, Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller and Brian Rosenworcel, were busking in a vacant storefront in Harvard Square. Two young college students singing harmony, earnestly playing their guitars, flanking a very energetic bongo player. I put a few bucks into the guitar case.

Since then, I've seen them with full orchestras in many cities, flown to see them at Red Rocks, and most recently stood in a sea of thousands at the On The Ocean festival the band curates and hosts each year in Portland, Maine. They have released nine albums and several live recordings, and always finds new ways to weave amazing sonic landscapes, tell meaningful stories and deeply engage with its fan base. But I have always felt Guster was a band made for the Tiny Desk, for the NPR Music audience. From that dirty little storefront in Cambridge to the best little venue in the world.

When Miller, Gardner and Rosenworcel finally made it to the Tiny Desk, Guster put on a show that featured old songs and new. They opened with "Manifest Destiny," an anthem dedicated to packing it all up and running away. The Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus provided beautiful harmonies on "Empire State." From Guster's most recent album, Ooh La La, "The Elevator" is a goodbye song that carries different meanings whether you think of it as a morning farewell to a small child or mourning a lost parent. Either way, "I'll miss you when I'm gone" is the message.

Watching this performance was an immensely euphoric, almost surreal moment. At one moment, Ryan and Adam once again played their guitars flanking Brian, and I got a flash of those same three earnest young men I saw on that summer day in Cambridge, Mass. A little older, but as wonderful as ever.

SET LIST

"Manifest Destiny"

"Empire State"

"Satellite"

"The Elevator"

MUSICIANS

Ryan Miller: vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass, piano

Adam Gardner: bass, guitar, vocals

Brian Rosenworcel: drums, percussion

Luke Reynolds: guitar, Mellotron, bass, piano, background vocals

Dave Butler: drums, piano

Jamie Hillis: background vocals

Zac Barger: background vocals

Gabriel Lopez: background vocals

Dana Nearing: background vocals

Michael Smith: background vocals

Javon Byram: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Robin Hilton

Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene, Sofia Seidel

Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai

Production Assistant: Dora Levite

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Ashley Pointer

Photographer: Maansi Srivastava

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #guster

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