March 2024
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My Name is Jonas.

NB to my sister, Allison: Don’t read this. It’s going to make you seethe with jealousy. On second thought, read away. Muahahaha.

Kristian, a couple friends and I went to the Weezer concert at the Orpheum on Tuesday. I was excited to see a band that I truly love, but I was unprepared for what a great show they put on. Despite the fact that we were in the nosebleed section (I spent a good chunk of the show attempting to see around the large gentleman in front of me and staring at Rivers Cuomo’s bald spot), I had a blast.

They started off with a song from their latest album, Hurley. Then, they worked their way backwards playing a song or two from every album. They finished up their first set with a song (I’m 99% sure it was Falling For You) from Pinkerton, a habitually underrated album. Their first set was energetic to the point of frenzy. Rivers Cuomo stopped playing the guitar at their live shows a few years ago in order to concentrate on his showmanship. And, boy oh boy, has it ever paid off. He bounces around the stage like a crazed hipster jacked up on goofballs and PBR. He gets in close to his other bandmates and plays air guitar as they rock out. He bounces on a mini trampoline.

He literally climbed the speakers, crawling around the front stacks with a wireless mic and then scaling into the box seats to sing with the audience. I would have given anything, at that moment, to be sitting there. He eventually made his way around to the balcony, but he only got within 30 or so feet of us. He was probably nervous about altitude sickness.

After that trip through memory lane, Weezer headed off the stage and a projector screen announced that it was intermission. We might have gone for beers, but they were $12 each and we weren’t sure if we’d make it back in time. It was a long climb. After a brief interlude, longtime Weezer friend Karl Koch came out and showed us all a slideshow of old photos and memorabilia. It was surprisingly entertaining. It was amazing to see their journey from garage band to certified platinum.

The original Weezer lineup came out for their second set with Rivers Cuomo playing guitar and Patrick Wilson back on drums (he plays guitar for the band these days, so they got themselves a new drummer). They then proceeded to play the Blue Album in its entirety from start to finish. Holy hell, I had forgotten how good that album is. There isn’t a stinker on it.

The crowd ate it up.

I might have been annoyed that you could barely hear any of the band members singing over the noise of the crowd. Except I was singing along myself. And I’m not that big of a hypocrite.

Ok, maybe I was a little annoyed.

But just a little.

I’ve seen a lot of great bands in my day and I’ve been to a lot of phenomenal concerts. I think I’d have to put Tuesday’s show up there with some of the best of them. Weezer was such a huge part of my adolescence (they were a huge part of a lot of people’s adolescences as evidenced by the equally large numbers of aging hipsters and high schoolers in the audience). Not only do they put on a great show, they have the musical chops to back it up.

If I was the type of person to give out stars, I’d hand out five of the shiny, gold ones. But I’m not, so I’ll just throw up a goat.

Weezer

Hooray for Weezer.

8 comments to My Name is Jonas.

  • Aww sounds like a blast! I’m also a huge fan of the Pinkerton Album 🙂

  • This sounds like such a fun show!

  • I was reading that it didn’t do well because they weren’t sure when they’d be able to release it. The Pinkerton detective company tried to block it. Damn their eyes!

  • Hope, reading this makes me want to go sample a Weezer album.

    Yes, it’s true — although I’ve heard of the band once or twice, I don’t know a single song, let alone an album. Unless, of course, I know a song but don’t know that I know it, which is possible.

    In further testament to a day of obvious age or culture gap, when you say you were going to throw up a goat, I take it you don’t mean that you swallowed a goat and now need to vomit it up, or that you snuck a goat into the show and where now going to throw it up on stage. So, I ask is “goat” a code word or a metaphor?

  • TigranA

    My good friend Brad was at that show, and he got to go backstage and chat with all the band members, get autographs, and get a limited edition package set of all the weezer CDs to date. I am soooooooooo jealous, but it sounds like it was an awesome show. The next time Weezer’s in town, I’m gonna be there.

  • Next time Weezer’s in town, we’re taking you with us!

  • Throwing up a goat is that hand gesture that you see in the picture at the bottom. I’d do it more often if I was more of a hipster. :p

    I highly recommend the Blue Album, it’s a classic. The Green and Red Albums are excellent as well. They’re all titled “Weezer” but people refer to them by the album colors.

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