Weezer Show

This past Saturday, Weezer and their tourmates Angels & Airwaves and Tokyo Police Club were here in Atlanta, but my roommate Evan couldn't use his tickets because he had a conflict, so he sold them to us! Going to a show that neither one of us was particularly psyched about was a weird experience, and the funny thing about it was that we probably saw more of this show (i.e. all of the bands) than we would have had we just wanted to see Weezer. But despite getting there earlier than we probably should have (Tokyo Police Club wasn't that great, and waiting through set changes was somewhat tedious), we ended up having a good time.

Angels & Airwaves is Tom DeLonge of Blink-182's current band, but although I loved Blink-182 and have Angels & Airwaves' first album (of two), they can get a bit monotonous, as all of their songs pretty much sound the same... Still, Tom and company put on a good show, and I certainly wasn't disappointed that the opening act happened to be someone with whom I was familiar.

Weezer's the kind of band that I know a good bit about despite not really being into them. I don't own any of their albums, I don't know any of their songs other than the singles, and I wasn't particularly into their scene, but this show might have changed all that... Not in a very long time (perhaps all the way back to Jump Little Children?) have I seen a band where all the members are extremely good musicians....literally everyone in this group could sing (not just as backup, but at one point or another as lead vocalist) and play at least two other instruments: the drummer played solo guitar, the lead singer played drums, and the other two played keyboards. Add to this a great visual presentation and setlist, plus Tom DeLonge coming out to sing the Sweater Song, and you've got a great performance.

The video above was from perhaps the most memorable part of the evening, when Weezer brought up a bunch of local radio contest winners to play various instruments in two of their songs ("Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills"). The instruments present were everything from guitars and drums to bassoon, cello, trumpet, saxophone, and even a tap dancer. These people had to audition, so there were some solid solos, though I'm not sure about the talent of everyone on stage.

Overall, despite a slow start, the evening was really great, and I now have a serious amount of respect for Weezer. Check them out live if you ever get the chance!