“The Paradise is where we cut our teeth,” Guster’s Adam Gardner said Thursday as he looked over a display of memorabilia for his band’s 25^th anniversary in the lounge of the Paradise Rock Club, hours before the first of four shows that will take Guster through the weekend. Guster first brought its then-acoustic guitars and bongos to the Paradise stage in 1993, opening for national acts “because we’d bring 200 kids from Tufts,” Gardner said in reference to their alma mater. The quirky alt-pop combo’s certainly grown over the past two decades and the singer/guitarist said the shows Friday through Sunday will each offer a different twist, with strings, a spinning wheel of song choices, and horns. If you make it, be sure to check out the Guster exhibit in the lounge, including a hand-scribbled list of prospective band names to replace their original moniker Gus—they could have been Gustry, Plankton or Juicer—along with memorabilia for the Paradise’s own 40^th anniversary, which includes (full disclosure) several of my photos.

Other major shows this weekend include Kings of Leon playing their mainstream-sculpted rock at TD Garden on Friday, the annual double bill of rockers Cracker and the more eclectic Camper Van Beethoven (both fronted by singer/guitarist David Lowery) at the Middle East Downstairs on Saturday and the ska-punk revelers Reel Big Fish holding court at House of Blues on Sunday.