Center stage at Somerville Porchfest: Guster

Thinking it would be ‘a fun thing to do,’ indie band returns to play in neighborhood

Dave rothfarb has played Somerville Porchfest many times over the years, so he knows the drill.

as soon as the city opened up registration for the annual festival — for which crowds roam the streets watching amateur musicians perform, for free, from their porches, driveways, and lawns — he put his aberdeen road apartment on the list.

His band drew a respectable crowd when it performed there last year, and he was expecting the same this time around for his new project, a ’90s and 2000s rock cover band called the Mixtape Misfits.

then he got an email, with quite the proposition.

it came from someone claiming to be the manager for Guster, the boston-bred gold record-winning indie rock band behind hits such as “Satellite” and “amsterdam.”

Would he mind, the purported manager asked, if Guster played on his porch, too? at first, he didn’t buy it.

“My first impression was, like, this has gotta be a scam,” said rothfarb, a self-professed Guster fan who’s seen them live several times. “but there were no suspicious links or anything.”

eventually, convinced the offer was legit, he agreed. both bands agreed to keep the appearance to themselves for a while, to avoid generating too much buzz too far in advance. now, the secret’s out.

Guster, the band announced this week, will in fact be taking the stage (well, porch) at 12 aberdeen road in Somerville, for a short set from 3:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. the Mixtape Misfits will open, starting at 2 p.m.