Weezer can be a difficult band to love. Their first two albums, 1994’s smash hit The Blue Album and 1996’s sleeper Pinkerton, amassed the band a huge and loyal fanbase, but their post-reunion material has left many of those fans cold. Their hit or miss live shows can also leave much to be desired, with fans never knowing if the band is going to be enthusiastic and engaging or distant and methodical. Personally, I had pretty much sworn off seeing the band live again after their last show I had attended was not only Make Believe-heavy but featured a band that appeared desperate to get off stage as soon as possible. But their announcement late last year that they would be forgoing a traditional tour for their Epitaph debut in favor of playing complete sets of their first two albums on alternating days, was enough to peak the curiosity of even their most jaded fans. Following this short, successful jaunt, dubbed the Memories Tour, Weezer played a one-off date in Las Vegas where they promised to play both classic albums back to back in one single night. I was lucky enough to attend this show.
Weezer came onto the stage after a short set from local indie-pop band Imagine Dragons (this The Killers meets Cage the Elephant) to thunderous applause and wasted no time diving right into Blue Album opener “My Name is Jonas.” From the start it was clear that we were getting the distant, methodical version of the band. They began playing through their best tunes without any acknowledgement of the crowd, who conversely lost their minds with excitement. A fan unleashed a huge Weezer flag early into the band’s set, receiving a slight smirk from band leader Rivers Cuomo and more cheers from the crowd. Despite a minor hiccup with the band mixing up the song order and starting “Surf Wax America” before “Undone,” Weezer essentially mimicked their LP to perfection. Not a lot of surprises, but who can complain about a fun set consisting of ten of the best pop/rock songs ever written?
Between sets, unofficial fifth member Karl Koch treated the audience to some of his own memories via a slideshow presentation of the band’s early days. Koch reminisced about the house where the band recorded The Blue Album, filming music videos with Spike Jonze, early, poor reviews calling the band Nirvana ripoffs, and Pinkerton coming in second to Bush’s Razorblade Suitcase on Rolling Stone’s “worst of the year” for 1996 (that last one elicited a loud “boo” from the audience). It was a humorous and interesting look at the band’s past and it provided a nice interlude while waiting for them to return. Surely a published version of this material would sell like gangbusters with Weezer fans.
Weezer again appeared distant when they returned to the stage and ripped right into Pinkerton opener “Tired of Sex.” There was a slight, but noticeable, drop off in crowd energy during this second set, which is probably to be excepted as their second album sold considerably less records than its predecessor and remains only a cult favorite. A few rumblings from within the crowd lamented that the band should have reversed the set, starting with Pinkerton before tearing through the more commercially successful Blue Album, but I was having too much fun singing along to favorites like “Across the Sea” and “Pink Triangle“ to care. Album single “El Scorcho” received the biggest reaction from the crowd from the second set, a small pit breaking out during the song’s bridge.
I was curious if the band would have an encore after Rivers finished “Butterfly.” Of course it’s common, but the band did just finish playing two full albums back to back. Earlier in the day, I lamented to a friend about skipping former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp’s Rentals tour where the band performed the Rachel Haden-led Weezer b-side “I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams.” But when Rivers and the band returned to the stage and said they would be playing one of their b-sides, my mind immediately went to “Jamie,” “Suzanne” or “Mykel and Carli.” But then the unimaginable happened and Rivers invited Rachel Haden to join them on stage. Despite the song being virtually unknown to the crowd, there was still a lot of excitement as the band burst through the poppy number. Seeing that song live and played with so much energy and enthusiasm was definitely a highlight of my concert going career.
Weezer will probably never put out another record as fun as The Blue Album. They will probably never put out an album as heartfelt as Pinkerton. They just aren’t that band anymore. But it was a nice treat to get to relive those glory days for a night. And while the band’s somewhat apathetic, going through the motions attitude kept the show from being perfect, the song selection and general atmosphere of the enthusiastic crowd made it a more than enjoyable experience.
-Emily Matview
First set:
“My Name Is Jonas”
“No One Else”
“The World Has Turned and Left Me Here”
“Buddy Holly”
“Undone – The Sweater Song”
“Surf Wax America”
“Say It Ain’t So”
“In the Garage”
“Holiday”
“Only in Dreams”
Second set:
“Tired of Sex”
“Getchoo”
“No Other One”
“Why Bother?”
“Across the Sea”
“The Good Life”
“El Scorcho”
“Pink Triangle”
“Falling for You”
“Butterfly”
Encore:
“I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams (with Rachel Haden)”
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