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First-night thoughts on Weezer at Stubb’s
(Zach Ornitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
- Photos: Weezer at Stubb’s
After a few weeks of deep immersion in the recent run of bands coming through Austin playing classic albums in full - read here for more on that phenomena - Monday night at Stubb’s was a sort of coda to the whole endeavor, with Weezer kicking off two nights dedicated to their first two albums.
I’ll be back with a proper review and reflection on both nights after Tuesday’s show, but wanted to get in some quick thoughts and observations from Monday, when the band ended the night playing its self-titled debut album (or “The Blue Album” in the band’s lexicon) from start to finish.
In no particular order:
- Of all the full-album concerts I’ve seen recently, Weezer did by far the best job of making a well-structured show out of the whole proposition. The night began with a pair of hits from the band’s latest album “Hurley” and proceeded backwards through the hits in their catalog (though avoiding 2004’s “Make Believe” and one of its bigger successes in “Beverly Hills”), tossing in their blogger-fave cover of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” before ending with “Pinkerton“‘s “El Scorcho.” A brief intermission featured a band-narrated slide show of early years photos and fliers, after which the band returned for the full album section of the evening.
- As seems to be standard operating procedure for full-album shows, once the first notes of album opener “My Name Is Jonas” started there was absolutely no interaction between band and crowd and the only musical change in the songs was some extra guitar solos in closing number “Only In Dreams.” This was a marked contrast from the beginning of the night when lead singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo had an easy rapport with the audience and ventured into the crush of fans several times to sing along with them. The lasting effect of putting a sort-of wall between band and crowd for the full album performance was that of supersizing an already capital-“I” Important album for the audience, making it seem like their home stereo speakers had come to life and brought a five-figure lighting rig with them.
- The tour was billed as “Memories” but a wise-acre fan behind me summed it up better: “Weezer for geezers.” I was immediately annoyed I hadn’t thought of that first.
- Rain venom all you want on Weezer’s post-“Maladroit” output - you’ll get no argument from this direction - but, man, those singles have sneakily found a home in people’s brains. As evidence, the crowd that was decidedly toward the older edge of the band’s demo was singing so closely along to 2008’s “Pork And Beans” that Cuomo even got to do the hoary stick-the-microphone-out-so-the-crowd-can-sing-the-chorus move. It was like that throughout the show’s first set.
- About that crowd: many of them staring down their 40’s, or just getting freshly acquainted with them. Put another way, it seems A LOT of conversations on the night included some variation of the phrase “Man, I sure am glad I was able to get a sitter for this.” Put yet another way, folks for whom Weezer’s debut album was some sweet balm for the bitterness of teenage alienation or post-collegiate uncertainty. My gut feeling is that Tuesday’s crowd for the “Pinkerton” show will feature lots more librarian glasses, difficult haircuts and pensively crossed arms. “Blue Album” was a record that helped lots of kids capture some joy in a world they were struggling to find their place in. “Pinkerton” basically said “Screw all that. The world beyond your bedroom door is completely effed. Might as well get used to it.” Given that, Tuesday will probably be just as celebratory as Monday’s show, but with an added tribal/”These are my people” bent.
- Interesting that the band’s “W” hand symbol displayed by fans throughout the night - thumbs linked at 45 degree angles with index fingers extended - is identical to that of the Wu-Tang Clan, who released a genre-redefining debut album less than a year before Weezer did.
- During one of their first national tours after “Blue Album“‘s release Weezer came to Austin and played Liberty Lunch opening up for Live. “Two roads diverged into a yellow wood…”
- “My Name Is Jonas,” “Buddy Holly,” “Undone - The Sweater Song,” “In The Garage”… there’s a reason you’re humming them as you read those song titles, and that’s because they still freaking own. Get me on a witness stand and I’ll testify to singing the entire time like I was channeling my 17-year-old self the summer before senior year. There was a lot of that going on all around everywhere Monday. It was that kind of a night.
Set list:
- Misunderstood
- Unspoken
- I Want You
- Pork And Beans
- Keep Fishing
- Island In The Sun
- Hash Pipe
- Paranoid Android
- I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams (B-side)
- El Scorcho
Intermission
- 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
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Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Music
Comments
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By TXn
June 7, 2011 5:47 AM | Link to this
Really wanted to go…but glad I did not. I would have hated to have to wait for the Blue album to start.
Oh well, start the record now. Saved $60
By Shane
June 7, 2011 12:16 PM | Link to this
Amazing show.. dont see why your glad you didnt go! all hits before the blue album, any weezer fan(myself) was in heaven..
By Michael
June 7, 2011 2:25 PM | Link to this
I thought the set was amazing but a lot of people (including myself) were not happy with the sound at all. Stubbs over all needs to add some features to their venue to make it a comfortable experience for all. As people mentioned after the “memories slideshow” why dont they just have a screen up through out the whole show? People in the back do want to see without going through the whole motion of fighting to the front .
By nowayjose
June 7, 2011 2:29 PM | Link to this
Went last night and overall really great, exactly what I expected.
Optimally, they could of played both Blue Album and Pinkerton in the same show (under 80 minutes combined!) but I understand the economic incentive for them to separate it into two shows and also to play newer stuff to promote that.
If not a Blue+Pinkerton combo show, then I wish they would have played all b-sides from the Blue Album Monday and all b-sides from Pinkerton Tuesday. The b-sides from both those albums are amazing and worthy of being on the albums themselves and surely playing live.
By Vanessa
June 7, 2011 11:18 PM | Link to this
Well, I thought both shows were great. I took my 12yr old to Blue ‘cause he loves Weezer just as much as his mom :-) Took hubs to Pinkerton. I guess I’m just a geezer that loves Weezer! Making memories of my own.