| Manda's Weezer Review Wowed by Weezer |
| "If it's too loud turn it down." This is one of Weezer's popular slogans. According to the concert I attended Thursday September 20, I felt quite to the contrary. Weezer started the show off with everything but a quiet audience. Fans rose to their feet by the spectacle of moving lights, familar lyrics, and rockin' music. I was very impressed by the variety of music the band chose to perform. Weezer currently has 3 albums released: "the blue album" (1994), Pinkerton (1996), and "the green album" (recently released in 2001.) When Pinkerton was released it got mixed reviews, many people hated it, while others said it was their favorite. Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer of Weezer, also became cautious of playing these songs in concerts because they were so personal and got such a mixed reaction. I was happy to hear "Tired of Sex" a track off the Pinkerton album at the concert. The band also played a song "Dope Nose" which they hadn't played in concert since their summer 2000 tour. Minnesota fans got the special priviledge to hear that track because it hadn't been played anywhere since then. The closing songs the band chose were from their first CD, "the blue album": "Buddy Holly," and "Surf Wax America." These are pop/rock/punk tunes where all you want to do is rock out, and the audience did. It was a perfect wat to end an amazing concert. The venue Weezer played in was the Roy Wilkins auditorium in St.Paul, Minnesota. It was a smalled space with a general floor admission in front of the stage, and stadium like seating surrounding 3 sides of the stage. It was small enough so that the people in the balcony could still get a good look. The seating is great becase you can see the stage well from all angles. Karl Koch, Weezer's spokesperson said "the Roy Wilkins Auditorium was utterly sold out, packed to the GILLS with extremely loud and amped up fans." The set Weezer chose was brillant. The area seemed pretty bare until the band members walked out on stage. All of the amps and speakers were pushed off to the sides to give the performance space more of a dynamic effect. All that the band members were left with were their guitars, microphone stands and drum set. This setup contributes to the "simple" theme the band likes to portray. As the show went on more lights, smoke effects, a grid like reflector pannel, and illuminated "Weezer W's" with chasing lights were added. I have never been to a "sing along" concert until I went to Weezer. It was such a good feeling to hear the audience's voices screaming the lyrics to every song. One after the other, the songs just got better. Being a huge Weezer fan, I was glad to be surrounded by people who felt the same way I do. This concert was a wonderful experince for me and it was deffinitely worth my $25. *Picture provided from http://www.weezer.com |
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