The last time I saw Weezer some nine or ten years ago, the set was massive, fire blazed thirty feet high to key beats in “Hash Pipe” and pyrotechnics were used with reckless abandon. When I saw Weezer the other night at Horseshoe Casino’s The Venue in Hammond, Indiana, the show was very reminiscent to the days when the band played venues like the Aragon Ballroom and Metro in the 1990s. Armed with just a their instruments and a line of amplifiers, the band was all about their music and nothing else – the way it should be.
Without acknowledging a single fan in the audience, Rivers Cuomo walked to his mic as technicians were still performing sound checks on other instruments. Grabbing his guitar he began to mess around with a few riffs and chords. After continuing for a few more minutes, the other band members walked onto the stage and took to their places, joining Coumo in a mini jam session at half volume with the house lights still lit. Their jam eventually transitioned into “Undone - The Sweater Song” and the show was underway.
The band played a healthy dose of songs from their debut Weezer (The Blue Album), rocking hard to “Buddy Holly”, “My Name is Jonas”, “Surf Wax America” and a powerful version of “Say It Ain’t So”. Weezer made the rounds and included songs from The Green Album such as “Island in the Sun”, Make Believe’s “Beverly Hills” and The Red Album’s “Troublemaker”.
Bassist Scott Shriner’s energy was infectious, as he’d thrust his instrument to the heavy thumping and continuously interacted with the fans in front of him. Wearing a sweater over his collared shirt to go along with his khakis and New Balance gym shoes, Cuomo surprised everyone by walking into the crowd during a song where he moseyed about for a good three minutes or so.
The band was polished and tight. Filled with a collection of fans who were there from Weezer’s beginning to the younger ones that have picked up on their music in more recent years, the general consensus was that of great appreciation, respect and admiration for the simplistic, yet brilliant, rock songs created and performed by a band that gave geeks the right to rock.
After taking a brief break, the band returned to the stage and tore it up with Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me” where Cuomo showed off his lead guitar skills before capping off the night with the triumphant “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn).”
Whew…
Without question, Weezer puts on a hell of a show.
