The next show announcement for the 2016 Lowell Summer Music Series is a big one! Guster, fresh on the heels of two sold-out shows at Boston’s House of Blues, will be making its first appearance at the Series on Saturday, June 11th!

“With a new looseness and swagger, Guster pushes the acoustic guitars into the background, instead exploring deeper drum grooves, keyboard textures and atmospheric noise — a language they shared easily with Swift. The band that emerged from this session sounds like one that is no longer evolving, but has evolved into something else entirely.

Guster (Official Photo)

“Since forming at Tufts University in 1992, Guster has become one of the leading indie/alternative bands, releasing seven critically acclaimed albums in 20 years, starting with Parachute in 1995. Evermotion (to be released on their own Ocho Mule label through Nettwerk Records) is the follow-up to 2010’s Easy Wonderful, which earned the band its highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 at #22, while reaching #2 on both the SoundScan Alternative and iTunes charts.

“The 2010 addition of multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds to the core group of founding members Miller, Gardner and Rosenworcel, added immeasurably to Guster’s expanding musical palette.  Evermotion marks the first time that Reynolds joined for the preproduction and writing process, which took place in Rosenworcel’s Brooklyn basement over 2012 and 2013.  Reynolds’ stamp is clear and his passion is all over the record, from his guitar melodies on “Lazy Love” to his fuzz bass on “Doin’ It By Myself.”

“Guster’s songs remain packed with hummable choruses and dense lyrical detail amid the muscular guitar riffs, clanging percussion and deceptively dark lyrics. The new album features adventurous turns on slide guitars, brassy trumpets and even a glockenspiel, with sax and trombone accompaniment by Jon Natchez, whose stints with the War on Drugs, Beirut, Passion Pit and others have led NPR to call him “indie rock’s most valuable sideman.”

Tickets for the Guster show are priced at $42 in advance (fee-free!), $45 on the day of the show (if available) and children 12 and under are always free courtesy of Eastern Bank. There are also premium seats – beach chairs are provided by the Series – set in two rows directly in front of the stage for $142. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 9 through Lowell Summer Music Series.

For those of you who are unaware of the  Series, or if you are aware of it but have never attended a show there, it is an outdoor (weather permitting) concert series held on National Park Service grounds in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Series is not-for-profit, which helps keep the ticket prices reasonable.

Surrounding Boarding House Park are old mill buildings, part of the Lowell National Historical Park, which you can tour if you arrive early enough. They provide an unusual setting for an evening of great music and ambiance.

The Series generally runs from late June to early September.

This Series is dear to my heart. I have been a season pass holder since 2007 and it is one of the highlights of the year (and of summer in particular) for me. Many lasting friendships have been made there. I expect this will be another excellent year!

I will post additional announcements for the Series as they are made.

Shows announced to date are:

June 11 (Saturday) – Guster

July 16 (Saturday) – Colin Hay

August 13 (Saturday) – Dr. Dog

September 1 (Thursday) – ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic

September 3 (Saturday) – The B-52s