The Pixies And Weezer Team Up For Super Nerd Rock Tour

Pretend it's 1994. Weezer's Blue Album is playing in college dorms across North America and all is good in the world.

Your friend says, "How awesome would it be if the Pixies played with Weezer!"

After gently reminding your friend that the Pixies broke up a year before, you'd say, "There's no way in hell that the Pixies would want Weezer as an opener!"

Fast forward to 2005.

The Pixies have reunited and Weezer are still one of power pop's biggest bands. And now the two will join forces in Toronto to put on one strange, yet quite satisfying gig. Both groups will return to Toronto on July 9 to play the Molson Amphitheatre.

The bands are no strangers to the GTA, a reunited Pixies played Mississauga's Arrow Hall for two nights back in November and Rivers Cuomo and crew played the Kool Haus less than a month ago in support of their latest disc, Make Believe. At first glance this bill may seem a little odd. The Pixies were one of the most important indie rock bands in the late '80s and early '90s, influencing Nirvana and a host of other grunge superstars. In fact, Weezer probably took a few cues from Black Francis, Kim Deal and the rest of the foursome when they started creating their catchy post-grunge pop.

Today, Weezer cater to the college set, a demographic that's only passingly familiar with the Pixies or their influence. However, if you look a little deeper, this pairing isn't so peculiar. A lot of The Pixies' fans liked Weezer's early material, so what better way to bring back the Blue Album groupies than to have these Boston indie legends open?

Of course, The Pixies probably want some new fans too, so while their November set list comprised mostly of Doolittle and Surfer Rosa tracks, we expect them to play songs from their entire oeuvre this time around. So far, only the Toronto date has been announced, but according to Weezer's website, the band expect more July dates to be revealed soon. If the past is any indication, other Canadians could be looking at a Pixies/Weezer mash-up.

The Pixies' second show in 11 years was held in Winnipeg and the band subsequently played in almost every Canadian province.