Weezer has been quite the success since their formation sixteen years ago, with an uncanny penchant for blending the styles like Nirvana and Green Day, making their band an influential schematic for present and future alternative rock. So, six albums and three member changes later, I was made aware of Weezer coming through Atlanta on Oct. 25 (the last stop on their tour), sharing the road with Tokyo Police Club, a respectably solid indie band all the way from Ontario, and Angels and Airwaves, with lead singer Tom DeLonge from Blink-182.
I arrived almost two hours early to beat the fan rush to the Gwinnett Center, and was thoroughly surprised by the steady flow of concert-goers coming before six o’clock to see both bands’ appearances preceding Weezer’s. Much to my chagrin, an overwhelming amount of high school and middle school students crowded the seats and floor space, but there was still a good deal of older audience members, making the mix rather bearable.
Tokyo Police Club lit up the stage with singles from their album A Lesson in Crime and others that show the potential of this newcomer in the music industry. Tokyo served as a great warm-up for Angels and Airwaves, and Tom Delonge’s show-boating bordered on inanity as he opened with his single, “Everything’s Magic,” and proceeded to strut his flamboyant poses up and down the stage. However, my attention focused mostly on the energetic skills of drummer veteran Atom Willard, who worked previously with The Offspring.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of an hour, Weezer made their appearance and treated the buttered-up crowd to “My Name is Jonas,” the lyrics to which I knew by heart thanks to my battered and scratched CD of their Blue Album. Though there was an eclectic variety from those days to their recent Red Album, I recognized many older songs like “Buddy Holly” and “Island in the Sun” and got hooked on “Pork and Beans” and “Troublemaker.”
Delonge came back onto the stage alongside drummer Atom to perform “Undone,” while Project 96.1 brought its “Hootenanny” contestants onto the stage, which consisted of almost thirty fans who played “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills.”
Rivers Cuomo, with his jittery demeanor and 1970’s mustache, made quite the splash with on-stage antics which included half a dozen power slides and piggy-back riding on security through the audience. Finally, the night was finished with a healthy, explosive version of “Buddy Holly,” which only fueled the audience’s appetite for an encore.
Needless to say, to experience Weezer’s last show of the year didn’t fail to impress fellow fans, my eardrums pleasantly abused for the night as fans poured out, sharing the same sentiment as they chattered to each other in excitement. So, after seeing my first Radiohead concert this summer, followed by the Weezer concert, I can go through the monotony of campus life a little more fulfilled, as “Surf Wax America” echoes in my head during classes.