By: Ryan Martin
Being an enormous music fan, while living in Warren, Maine, it’s safe to say that quite a bit of concerts doesn’t come my way. I remember days driving 4-5 hours to Boston and back in one day just to see some of my favorite artists like Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino and Tyler, The Creator. But when a popular alternative band like Weezer was announced in Portland, Maine back in springtime, it’s safe to say I was fucking stoked. I obtained my $55 GA tickets and I was ready to go; all that was left was to wait another 4 months. I had agreed to take my 13-year-old brother with me for his first real concert and my best friend and his 14-year-old brother tagged along as well. I was excited to show my brother the energy and atmosphere of what a concert actually is (He had asked me why everyone didn’t just sit down the entire concert). We had front row seats, which is kind of a given since we waited in line for 2.5 hours.
Around 7:30 a band called The Front Bottoms took the stage, the band started out with “Skeleton” with the drummer giving off an insane amount of energy that the rest of the band fed off of (honorably mentioning the bassist, that dude did not mess around). By the time their 30 minute set was over, my group unanimously agreed we were new fans. Their set consisted of personality and jokes that Weezer definitely could have taken notes on.
Weezer played each song expertly but failed in engaging the crowd in any way. Being a frequent concert attendee, despite my location, and studying how bands like Twenty One Pilots and blink-182 play live, I know what a concert should not just sound like, but look like. Rivers Cuomo looked rough in his age; he had a grizzly beard and his hair looked like he just woke up. Which could have been accurate. Weezer started off with three monster hits, “My Name is Jonas”, followed by “Hash Pipe” where “El Scorcho” followed. They didn’t ask the crowd how they were feeling or tried to involve the crowd more thoroughly . About halfway through, Rivers Cuomo kind of briefly stated what his Spanish name was, which seemed like a goofy joke to me, but it was also the only show of personality throughout the entire show. Cuomo knew how to share the stage at least, as he let the bassist Scott, sing “Dope Nose” and did his duet on “Go Away” with the closest thing to a girl on the stage, the long-haired guitarist.
The set was filled to the brim with hits after hits, so they obviously knew how to entertain their loyal fan base, which was diverse as hell to say the least. There were middle aged parents bringing their kids along as well as teenagers to young adults. Which explains how the crowd was as awkward as Rivers Cuomo’s body language. When songs like “Surf Wax America and “El Scorcho” came out, I may as well have been in a mosh pit with myself. After 10 seconds of jumping and head banging, I just kind of felt stupid. There was no energy in the crowd or from the band besides the music itself.
Weezer has never come off to me as a stoner band, but it may as well be one. Everyone was just kind of smoking weed and mellowing out. I see an enormous difference musically between Weezer and The Dave Mathews Band but in crowd terms, the two could not be more similar. It was disappointing for me to try to bring my brother to his first ‘real’ concert and to have the crowd be as dead as one he has already been to. Especially for the kind of money charged.
By the time I was in my car driving home with my group, the most frequent things we talked about and listened to was how great The Front Bottoms set was. The lead singer, Brian stated before he left how grateful the band was to be playing with Weezer and was about to get incredibly drunk and party after the set. Which he reportedly fulfilled. His voice and the style of his playing reminded me immensely of Tom DeLonge, one of my favorite guitar players which made the set more enjoyable for me. They also didn’t try to be anybody else, they went up on stage and were exactly who they are as a band which made me like them even more, more so that I bought one of their records as I left, and not a Weezer shirt.
I recommend sticking to the songs with Weezer. I picture so much energy in my head when I listen to ballads like “Only In Dreams” and “The Futerscope Trilogy”. And even though those songs weren’t played, I can’t imagine they would have been any different, especially how those are both deep cuts off of albums and it doesn’t seem like Weezer is interested in playing those. If The Front Bottoms come to a city near you, check them out. They put on a great show, but if Weezer comes and overcharges for GA, don’t waste your time. Buy The Blue Album or Pinkerton or their new album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End and jam to that instead. They still are a great band and Cuomo sticks to the formula that has always worked for their quirky band but reflects something different in their live performances.
Being an enormous music fan, while living in Warren, Maine, it’s safe to say that quite a bit of concerts doesn’t come my way. I remember days driving 4-5 hours to Boston and back in one day just to see some of my favorite artists like Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino and Tyler, The Creator. But when a popular alternative band like Weezer was announced in Portland, Maine back in springtime, it’s safe to say I was fucking stoked. I obtained my $55 GA tickets and I was ready to go; all that was left was to wait another 4 months. I had agreed to take my 13-year-old brother with me for his first real concert and my best friend and his 14-year-old brother tagged along as well. I was excited to show my brother the energy and atmosphere of what a concert actually is (He had asked me why everyone didn’t just sit down the entire concert). We had front row seats, which is kind of a given since we waited in line for 2.5 hours.
Around 7:30 a band called The Front Bottoms took the stage, the band started out with “Skeleton” with the drummer giving off an insane amount of energy that the rest of the band fed off of (honorably mentioning the bassist, that dude did not mess around). By the time their 30 minute set was over, my group unanimously agreed we were new fans. Their set consisted of personality and jokes that Weezer definitely could have taken notes on.
Weezer played each song expertly but failed in engaging the crowd in any way. Being a frequent concert attendee, despite my location, and studying how bands like Twenty One Pilots and blink-182 play live, I know what a concert should not just sound like, but look like. Rivers Cuomo looked rough in his age; he had a grizzly beard and his hair looked like he just woke up. Which could have been accurate. Weezer started off with three monster hits, “My Name is Jonas”, followed by “Hash Pipe” where “El Scorcho” followed. They didn’t ask the crowd how they were feeling or tried to involve the crowd more thoroughly . About halfway through, Rivers Cuomo kind of briefly stated what his Spanish name was, which seemed like a goofy joke to me, but it was also the only show of personality throughout the entire show. Cuomo knew how to share the stage at least, as he let the bassist Scott, sing “Dope Nose” and did his duet on “Go Away” with the closest thing to a girl on the stage, the long-haired guitarist.
The set was filled to the brim with hits after hits, so they obviously knew how to entertain their loyal fan base, which was diverse as hell to say the least. There were middle aged parents bringing their kids along as well as teenagers to young adults. Which explains how the crowd was as awkward as Rivers Cuomo’s body language. When songs like “Surf Wax America and “El Scorcho” came out, I may as well have been in a mosh pit with myself. After 10 seconds of jumping and head banging, I just kind of felt stupid. There was no energy in the crowd or from the band besides the music itself.
Weezer has never come off to me as a stoner band, but it may as well be one. Everyone was just kind of smoking weed and mellowing out. I see an enormous difference musically between Weezer and The Dave Mathews Band but in crowd terms, the two could not be more similar. It was disappointing for me to try to bring my brother to his first ‘real’ concert and to have the crowd be as dead as one he has already been to. Especially for the kind of money charged.
By the time I was in my car driving home with my group, the most frequent things we talked about and listened to was how great The Front Bottoms set was. The lead singer, Brian stated before he left how grateful the band was to be playing with Weezer and was about to get incredibly drunk and party after the set. Which he reportedly fulfilled. His voice and the style of his playing reminded me immensely of Tom DeLonge, one of my favorite guitar players which made the set more enjoyable for me. They also didn’t try to be anybody else, they went up on stage and were exactly who they are as a band which made me like them even more, more so that I bought one of their records as I left, and not a Weezer shirt.
I recommend sticking to the songs with Weezer. I picture so much energy in my head when I listen to ballads like “Only In Dreams” and “The Futerscope Trilogy”. And even though those songs weren’t played, I can’t imagine they would have been any different, especially how those are both deep cuts off of albums and it doesn’t seem like Weezer is interested in playing those. If The Front Bottoms come to a city near you, check them out. They put on a great show, but if Weezer comes and overcharges for GA, don’t waste your time. Buy The Blue Album or Pinkerton or their new album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End and jam to that instead. They still are a great band and Cuomo sticks to the formula that has always worked for their quirky band but reflects something different in their live performances.