Oh boy! You are either gonna love or hate this. I love it. Weezer serves up a great mix of pop and rock on Raditude. Tapping into an infectious groove somewhat reminiscent of Katrina and The Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” the first track and single “(If Your Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” makes you smile and toe tap the night away. It doesn’t stop there, not by a long shot. Rivers Cuomo, with a little help from some friends, taps into his inner most nerd (although he has never hidden that from us) “ooohing and ahhhing” on “The Girl Got Hot.” Tight and snapping rhythm is key provided by the teammanship of Pat Wilson and Scott Shriner. Don’t worry Brian Bell fans, his presence is felt every so much on key track “Let It All Hang Out,” which also pays homage to a night on the town with the fellas. Obscurity sets in on the disco-esque “Can’t Stop Partying” which even taps into a rap interlude in the middle. “Love is The Answer” has beautiful sitar and amazing harmony work on it that gives “Jai-Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire a run for its money. Weezer, for me, really hasn’t lost a step and continues to entertain my inner most nerd (which i hide well until i open my mouth) -NZA
Weezer is Rivers Cuomo (Vocals/Guitar), Brian Bell (Guitar/Vocals), Scott Shriner (Bass/Vocals), & Pat Wilson (Drums/Vocals).
Track Listing:
“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”
Below is a review of last night’s Weezer concert at MSG from Nza, a friend to the Gears of Rock:
I HAVE SEEN WEEZER ON EVERY TOUR SINCE THEIR BIRTH AND DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT THIS TIME THEY HAD THE MOST ENERGY EVER UP THERE. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THEY ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE HAVING FUN, RIVERS CUOMO INCLUDED. OPENING WITH “MY NAME IS JONAS,” WEEZER NEVER LOOKED BACK.
THEY RIPPED THROUGH SELECTIONS FROM EACH ALBUM AND GAVE EVERY WEEZER FAN A FAIR SHARE OF WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR. I HAVE NEVER SEEN RIVERS JUMP UP AND DOWN LIKE HE DID ON THIS NIGHT AND BELIEVE ME, IT WAS A TREAT!!! HEARING “SUSANNE” FROM THE MALLRATS SOUNDTRACK DEFINITELY TOOK THE CAKE FOR ME AND IT WAS ONLY THE FOURTH SONG IN. THE CROWD WAS REALLY INTO IT AND IT WASN’T EVEN A TYPICAL SOLD OUT MSG PACKED HOUSE.
WEEZER THEN INVITED TOM DELONGE FROM ANGELS AND AIRWAVES (THE OPENER) AND BLINK-182 TO GUEST VOCAL ON WEEZER’S FIRST SINGLE “UNDONE (THE SWEATER SONG),” AND I MUST SAY HE NAILED IT. SHOWING THAT HE IS MULTILINGUAL, RIVERS THANKED THE CROWD IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES AFTER EACH TUNE. THAT HARVARD SHOW-OFF!
THEY FINSHED THE SET WITH AN OASIS COVER OF “MORNING GLORY” FOLLOWED BY THE EIGHT MINUTE EPIC “THE GREATEST MAN THAT EVER LIVED,” WHICH SHOWED THAT MOST WEEZER FANS ARE STILL PAYING ATTENTION AND LEARNING THE NEW LYRICS AS WELL. NEXT, WEEZER ACTUALLY GAVE THE FANS A SHOT AND WELCOMED UP A LUCKY 40 OR SO FANS TO JAM WITH THEM ON “ISLAND IN THE SUN” AND “BEVERLY HILLS.” WHILE IT WAS ENJOYABLE, I COULD NOT WAIT FOR IT TO END SO I CAN SEE THE WEEZ SHRED SOME MORE TUNES.
WELL, I GOT MY WISH BECAUSE ONCE IT WAS OVER, A STAGE HAND PLACED A RECORD PLAYER ON STAGE, AND PUMPED THE RED ALBUM’S‘“HEART SONGS” THROUGH THE AMPS. SUDDENLY, RIVERS CAME BY AND KICKED THE STEREO OVER AND WEEZER BLAZED INTO NIRVANA’S “SLIVER” — THE CROWD WENT BANANAS.
FINALLY, ENDING WITH THE RADIO HIT “BUDDY HOLLY,” WEEZER ROCKED AND ROLLED THE GARDEN AND EVERYONE WAS APPRECIATIVE OR AT LEAST SEEMED TO BE, 20 BEERS LATER [editors note: this explains the CAPS].
SEE YA IN THE PIT,
-NZA
PS ALTHOUGH I DO NOT PRAY , TRAVIS BARKER AND DJ AM ARE IN MY THOUGHTS AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE VICTIMS FAMILIES.
MSG Setlist:
My Name Is Jonas
Pink Triangle
Perfect Situation
Say It Ain’t So
Susanne
Keep Fishin’
King
Undone (featuring Tom Delonge)
Pork & Beans
Dreamin’
Dope Nose
Troublemaker
Automatic
Hash Pipe
El Scorcho
What’s the Story, Morning Glory? (Oasis cover)
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
Encore one (with 30 fans as ‘hootenanny’ backing band):
Island in the Sun
Beverly Hills
Over the next few days, I will post my top 10 rock concerts that I had the honor of attending. As I dug through my 100+ ticket stubs, I realized how tough it was to narrow it down to ten. Before I get to the top 10, I want to list about 10 shows that would have made the top 20. Here are the honorable mentions of my rock show countdown in chronological order:
K-Rock’s Dysfunctional Family Picnic 3 featuring Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Blink 182, Rob Zombie, Hole, Kid Rock, and Limp Bizkit at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, June 11, 1999, This festival was my 24th rock concert and a special one as you can see from the line-up. Highlights that I can remember include Howard Stern singing back-up for Rob Zombie on “Dragula,” Stone Temple Pilots and Hole not showing up to the concert, Fred Durst leading the crowd in a launching of 15,000+ glow sticks towards the stage, Kid Rock and Jo-C right before Kid Rock blew up following the Woodstock performance, and Rage Against The Machine at their peak.
Ben Folds Five and Guster at the Palace Theatre, Albany, NY, April 18, 2000, I know, I know. Ben Folds Five? Rock show? Well, let me tell you something. If the piano can be a blasting Marshall stack turned to 11 or a spinning drum kit 25 feet above the crowd, this is it. I have always loved what Ben can do to a baby grand piano. There is something so rocking about Ben Folds that so many people miss. I actually hear a death metal presence in his work. Then again, I am out of my mind. Cheers to my 32nd rock show.
Tattoo the Earth featuring Metallica, Slayer, Slipknot, Sevendust, Sepultura, and Mudvayne at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, July 20, 2000, This was a very special NY area show that added Metallica to the already perfect line-up, then it became golden. It was my 36th concert and an absolute blast. I was on the floor and the floor was actually relaxed and chill during Metallica and Slayer. I was able to enjoy the beauty of two of my all-time favorites; meaning no crowd-surfers falling on my neck and no ex-military skinheads punching me in the face. What a wonderful show.
Weezer at Irving Plaza, NYC, August 23, 2000, I actually gave up my Pearl Jam tickets to go see the long awaited return of Weezer. This was prior to the release of the awful Green Album. Who knew that Weezer was going to suck after this amazing show? I didn’t see it coming. Weezer ripped through Blue Album and Pinkertonfavorites as well as obscure b-sides. I had such a great time at my 39th show.
Dave Matthews Band at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, June 11, 2001, The only reason this show made it to this list is because of what happened in the encore. During the song, “Two Step,” the sky opened up and poured about 12 inches of rain on the crowd, with thunder and lightning, playing harmoniously with the band for close to 15 minutes. It was an amazing site for show #45.
Blink 182 and Green Day at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, May 30, 2002, The reason that show 64 made it to the list is because these are the two mainstream pop-punk giants playing the same stage on the same night. It was almost like they were trying to out-perform the other and I appreciated that. It wasn’t the best Green Day show I’ve seen and it wasn’t the best Blink 182 show I’ve seen. But together, it rocked hardcore. It was also cool when Mark Hoppus threw his bass into the water.
Tommy Lee at the WWE Cafe, NYC, June 15, 2002, Why? Because I met Tommy after the show and he was mega-cool and friendly, and I am not even a chick. Tommy was out supporting Never a Dull Moment, which I thought was a great album, far better than Tommyland: The Ride. This was my 65th show and it consisted of a cool band, a cool crowd, and a cool experience.
Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden, NYC, July 9, 2003, I remember standing in the last row of the Garden behind the stage, thinking to myself, “I can die now, I’m ready, take me.” That is how great this concert was, but you know what? The show I just saw in June outdid this one, which you will see in my top 10.
Velvet Revolver and Chevelle at the Aladdin Theatre, Las Vegas, NV, August 20, 2005, Vegas baby, Vegas. This was VR’s city that night. Scott Weiland ripped and sounded phenomenal and Slash was his typical amazing self. Cheers to show #84. The only thing that could have made it better, is if Libertadwas out for this show.
Rob Zombie at the Nokia Theatre, Times Square NYC, March 29, 2006, I am a high school teacher and this was a school night. But hey, how often do you get to hang out in the VIP section with Pete Steele of Type-O-Negative and members of Biohazard, while being in spitting distance of Rob Zombie. Rock show 87 was sick.
Well, there you have it. These are the 10 honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the top 10. This took forever to do, by the way. I will begin the top 10 very soon. I hope you enjoy this series.
Well it’s seven years later and you all know what that means, another self-titled Weezer album. Their latest, which operates under the moniker The Red Album, is a frustrating mish-mosh of awesome tunes and utter disappointments. It’s a tough album to wrap your arms around but fortunately there are a few songs that are good enough to keep you coming back.
Chances are you’ve heard the first single “Pork and Beans.” If not, I can tell you it’s a zany but catchy little ditty which shows that Weezer haven’t totally lost their touch fourteen years after their acclaimed debut. The verses are loaded with oddball instrumentation that leads into a hard-driving, four chord, chant-along chorus. This song is easy to love and accept. Surprisingly, the same can be said of “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.” In theory it shouldn’t work: one of the most socially awkward frontmen of our time boasting about how great he is over an ever-changing array of genres. It starts with hip-hop and ends with grandiose pop-punk stopping along the way for acoustic rock, spoken word, and Beach Boys style harmonizing. Perhaps the two best songs are “The Angel and the One” and “Dreamin’.” Both songs sound like they would fit on 1996′s Pinkerton yet they don’t sound out of date. They blend classic Weezer style with the more ambitious sound they are going for in other songs. It’s too bad that the rest of the album isn’t as classic.
One cringe-worthy song is “Heart Songs.” In this song vocalist Rivers Cuomo sings about every song he’s ever heard that inspired him. I appreciate what he is trying to do but it mostly comes off as corny. The half-assed chorus (“These are my heart songs/They never feel wrong”) only makes matters worse. This song is followed by another misstep called “Everybody Get Dangerous.” It has a chorus that’s easy to sing along to complete with moronic backing vocals but it has absolutely no flair. It’s this album’s version of “Beverly Hills,” which means it will probably be a huge single. They try to extend the fun with a mock “Sympathy for the Devil” send-up when they should have just ended the song as quickly as possible.
While these songs are lackluster, what really kills The Red Album is a trio of songs in which the other three band members each take a turn on vocals. The songs aren’t bad, it’s just that they don’t fit in with the rest of the album. They could have gotten away with “Cold Dark World” but that’s probably because it was written by Cuomo. Putting all three of these songs next to each other was a terrible idea and makes the listener forget what album they put on. The deluxe addition of the album has four bonus tracks that didn’t make it to the album. These songs are quite enjoyable and would have made a lot more sense than some of the songs that are there. I understand that they are trying to be fair and let the other members shine but the way they went about doing it was all wrong.
I can’t whole-heartedly recommend The Red Album but I wouldn’t call it a failure. The better songs rank very highly among Weezer’s catalogue. If you are a devoted fan of the band then go ahead and get the album, and make sure you get the deluxe edition. The bonus tracks are worth it. If having the complete picture isn’t important to you then just download the good songs.
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Oh boy! You are either gonna love or hate this. I love it. Weezer serves up a great mix of pop and rock on Raditude. Tapping into an infectious groove somewhat reminiscent of Katrina and The Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” the first track and single “(If Your Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” makes you smile and toe tap the night away. It doesn’t stop there, not by a long shot. Rivers Cuomo, with a little help from some friends, taps into his inner most nerd (although he has never hidden that from us) “ooohing and ahhhing” on “The Girl Got Hot.” Tight and snapping rhythm is key provided by the teammanship of Pat Wilson and Scott Shriner. Don’t worry Brian Bell fans, his presence is felt every so much on key track “Let It All Hang Out,” which also pays homage to a night on the town with the fellas. Obscurity sets in on the disco-esque “Can’t Stop Partying” which even taps into a rap interlude in the middle. “Love is The Answer” has beautiful sitar and amazing harmony work on it that gives “Jai-Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire a run for its money. Weezer, for me, really hasn’t lost a step and continues to entertain my inner most nerd (which i hide well until i open my mouth) -NZA
Weezer is Rivers Cuomo (Vocals/Guitar), Brian Bell (Guitar/Vocals), Scott Shriner (Bass/Vocals), & Pat Wilson (Drums/Vocals).
Stumble It!
