Number Eight

Last night, my associate Gianluigi and I drove up to Cleveland to catch the Weezer-Foo Fighters show at Cleveland State University.

The Foo Fighters and openers Kaiser Chiefs rocked, but who am I kidding? I was only there to see one band, and the weez was worth it.

Last night was the eighth time (in five years) that I’ve seen Weezer live. I can honestly say (and GL concurred with me on this one) that last night, they were musically at their best. In a way, it was almost like seeing an entirely different band. They’ve always been musically tight, never playing too sloppy. Last night though, they were all that and more. They rocked and had fun doing so.

Lead singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo was like a human dynamo. He was way more chatty than ever before, even taking a few minutes to talk about tour buses and drummer Pat Wilson’s sick baby. Rivers also didn’t mind letting others take the spotlight, letting every member of the band front at least one song. During El Scorcho, Rivers gave up lead guitar duties and actually walked/danced/staggered around the stage while singing. Like I said, totally different.

Don’t Let Go was different (in a good way), with a lot of synth added in the opening and solo. Sounded like a new song.

Last time I saw the band, I was disappointed they didn’t play This is Such a Pity, but they remedied that last night- and if I had to decide on one song, I’d say that was the song of the night.

Some other highlights:
-Brian sang lead on Why Bother, giving it a different feel- he also kicked some ass with the solo.
-Scott singing lead on Dope Nose. I didn’t see that one coming- and he did a great job.
-First cover of the night: Big Me
-Pat and Rivers switching drum and guitar duties for Photograph. After seeing Pat’s hideous pants (And non-matching shirt), I can see why he sits behind the drum kit the other 99% of the time. Although, that was forgivable as he looked like he was really having fun with Photograph. At the end of the song, the whole band just busted into Song 2, in another WTF moment. GL said they missed the first verse, but it was still rocking.

After a brief break, Rivers, from the back of the arena, played a solo acoustic version of Island in the Sun, then joined the band and a lucky fan onstage for Undone and Buddy Holly.

Like I said, the Kaiser Chiefs and Foo Fighters were great too, but this was definitely the best weezer has ever been musically. There weren’t any shenanigans like at the last weezer show (unless you count GL getting molested), but it was definitely a great time.

Let’s go Yankees!

Addendum:
-Kaiser Chiefs had a song where the lead singer banged away on a cowbell. I believe they stole this gimmick from TV’s Mike Raymond.

-On the drive there, didn’t listen to either the Foo or the Weez.

-I think it’s a rule at these things where if you’re older than 45 and have either a ponytail or facial hair, you HAVE to wear a leather jacket.

Published by

4 thoughts on “Number Eight

  1. How did the Kaiser Chiefs sound?

    I like their “Oh my god” song but haven’t really made an effort to listen to anything else by them.

Comments are closed.