Concert Review: Duster at Emo’s Austin

By Lillian Jones

Music Director

If you are anything like me, you have had your music taste described as “melancholy” by your peers on multiple occasions. I owe this descriptor and a wide majority of my music taste to the slowcore band Duster. I began listening to Duster my senior year of high school and it quickly became a ritual to listen to them. My daily routine consisted of waking up and turning on Duster to get ready, playing their Stratosphere album during the drive to school, hitting shuffle play on their discography in between classes, putting on Contemporary Movement for the drive to work – I think you get the point. I even created a Duster themed mug in my ceramics class with the outside being painted to resemble the Stratosphere album and the inside with the self-titled cat album cover. Needless to say, I hold Duster very near and dear to my heart. 

About a year ago, I was ecstatic to see that the band was going on tour after numerous Twitter posts declaring they would never tour again. I quickly bought the tickets for the show that would be held during Oblivion Access Fest at Empire in Austin. This was a memorable show but for all the wrong reasons. The crowd was the worst crowd I’ve ever experienced! I don’t remember anything about the band playing, just an intoxicated lady yelling in my ear the entire time about how she couldn’t hear and screaming at the band to play “Gold Dust” – her favorite song. To make it worse, it was the first concert I’d ever attended by myself. This rough experience honestly made me take a break from the band for about a year until I saw they were on tour again. I decided to give it a second go.

On Thursday, November 7th, I swiftly left campus at 6:20p.m. to make the all too familiar journey down I-35. Buzzing with nerves as I feared the possibility of reliving the same experience I had the year prior, I did what I needed to do to calm myself down. My entire drive preparing for the sad droning music was spent listening to the #SantanaWorld(+) album by Tay-K. A very fitting choice in my opinion. Getting out of my car, the nerves immediately came back. This was quickly relinquished after receiving a text from my friend letting me know that they were also attending the concert. I would no longer be alone! The pattern had been broken! I made my way inside of the venue and found my footing near the center of the room, where my friend would meet me and we would stand our ground the rest of the night. 

After the opener, Dirty Art Club, had finished their lofi DJ set and exited the stage, the crowd grew quiet in anticipation for Duster to take their place. As the band walked onto the stage, the silence broke as the crowd grew loud in excitement and the members on stage tuned their guitars. 

The set began as Duster played “The Twins/Romantica,” a perfect opening song as it embodies the bands classic sound of the slowcore genre. Abruptly after that song had ended, the sound of heavy guitar ripped through the air as they played “Making Room” off of the 2023 album, Together. This stark contrast between the songs being back-to-back established the balanced mix of old and new tracks that would be played throughout the night. Duster’s newer music, while staying true to their slowcore genre, has developed to be more heavy and experimental with their sound. 

As the concert went on, I found myself growing tired from the warm temperature of the room, melancholy music and a lack of movement in the crowd. While the crowd was much better than the last, in the sense that it was calm, it was almost too calm. A new pet peeve of mine at concerts is when people do not move at all. No head bopping, no swaying to the music, nothing. Why go to a concert if you aren’t going to act like you enjoy the music? 

Combating my sleepiness, the band made a lot of their songs much more loud and interesting played live than they are recorded. I personally love when bands switch up their music style to make concerts more lively. This was apparent in one of the last songs they played, “Me and The Birds,” a personal favorite of mine. For this song they got rid of the iconic intro guitar riff and dragged it out for about a minute. It took me a while until the rhythmic guitar started playing a bit of the tune to make me realize what song it was. 

The night ended with a bang as Duster played “Echo, Bravo” much louder and faster than the recorded track, accompanied by flashing strobe lights. This is when a mosh pit broke out directly where I was standing and I found myself sucked into it. I unfortunately didn’t get to pay attention to the outro song as I was occupied pushing teenage boys off of me. Leaving the venue with a sore cheekbone and broken nail was not a part of my plan! 

Overall, I was able to regain my love for Duster as the crowd behaved up until the very end. It really goes to show how concert etiquette can affect a band. If I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to see them again or if I had gotten stuck next to an annoying person, I might have never listened to them again! Since the concert, I have had Duster on shuffle play, rediscovering some of my old favorite songs. Remember to be self aware at concerts and enjoy the music!