Weezer Make People Happy

Air Canada Centre

Toronto, ON

on Sep 30 2008

Jen White (CHARTattack)

10/01/2008 1:29pm

When I first heard about the opening bands for Weezer's current tour, I was excited for Tokyo Police Club and very confused about Angels & Airwaves. (One of these things is not like the other…) A lot of other people were, too.

The Air Canada Centre was half-empty when I got to my seat around 8:30 p.m., just before Angels & Airwaves took the stage. (I'm sorry, TPC. I feel like I'm destined to never see you guys.) I thought I knew at least one of A&A's singles, but my boyfriend informed me that, no, it was in fact a Blink-182 song. Oops. I crossed my fingers for "Dammit," but it never happened.

They played about 45 minutes of songs that all sounded alike as frontman Tom DeLonge sang in his signature whiney, off-key, emo vocals. There were eight 16-year-olds nearby who stood for the entire set, singing every word and seemingly having the time of their lives. They were the only ones. About three-quarters of the way through Angels & Airwaves' set, a guy next to me yelled towards the stage, "Why are you so bad!?" He was saying what we were all thinking.

Thankfully, Angels & Airwaves left the stage and, after a short break, the ACC began to fill up for the main event. Weezer came on stage dressed in white jumpsuits and launched into "My Name Is Jonas," which every member took turns singing until frontman Rivers Cuomo finally opened his mouth to do the very last line of the song. This was the first indication that they're all about switching it up these days, and the quartet took turns singing and playing different instruments throughout the night, Sloan-style.

If the crowd weren't already singing loud enough, Weezer broke into Pinkerton's "Pink Triangle." There's just something inherently fun about singing "I'm dumb, she's a lesbian" in unison with an arena full of Weezer fans. The band were pretty impressed when they let the crowd handle part of "Perfect Situation," and then changed out of their white jumpsuits to reveal red tracksuits with "Weezer" printed on the back. Cuomo told the audience it was time to kick it up a level, to "the mezzanine of rock," and then sang "Say It Ain't So" and the excellent B-side "Susanne" that appeared in Mallrats.

At this point, they could do no wrong. Even though they played six songs from their latest (and lame) self-titled release, nicknamed The Red Album, you weren't overwhelmed by the tracks. The only real misstep was when bassist Scott Shriner took lead vocals for "Cold Dark World," which sounded like a really bad "Hotel California." ("More like 'Motel California,'" the boyfriend chimed.)

Despite their weird form of rock stardom, Weezer are still the biggest nerds I know. Cuomo broke out a headset mic and apologized for the "incredibly dorky" apparatus, saying he was going to be like Miley Cyrus and Phil Collins for just one song. It was cheesy, but forgivable. The guys were just having too much fun up there, and the audience lapped it up.

The affable frontman then introduced his bandmates, claiming everyone was "practically Canadian" — from the Buffalo-born drummer Patrick Wilson to guitarist Brian Bell, who's originally from Knoxville, Tenn. This was my third time seeing Weezer, and it was definitely the most playful and talkative that I've ever seen them on stage.

Wilson left his drum kit behind to sing and play guitar on his Red Album contribution, "Automatic." But before breaking into the track, he continued the Canadian-themed banter. He referenced CTV and name-dropped a bunch of Ontario cities that he'd heard during the weather report on CFTO. He then broke into a Rush riff, which was pretty funny despite my hatred for that band.

After another few songs, including a "rock duet" with DeLonge and Cuomo for "Undone (The Sweater Song)," Wilson was centre stage once again. He said it was his favourite show of the tour thus far and dedicated the next tune, a cover of Oasis' "Morning Glory," to his friend Noel Gallagher, who was hurt in the Toronto "incident." Wilson didn't get attacked, so I finally got to hear someone play the song past the first verse.

After "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)," which is as ridiculously epic as its hyperbolic title suggests, Weezer left the stage only to return minutes later with a large gang for the hootenanny encore, with fans playing everything from the accordion and double bass to bongos, cowbell and what Cuomo dubbed "the first Omnichord to play in Weezer." He also singled out the person playing a melodica, who then broke into a few bars of New Kids On The Block's "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." It was awesome.

They played "Island In The Sun" and "Beverly Hills" before leaving the stage and preparing for the final encore of Nirvana's "Sliver" and the hit that started it all, "Buddy Holly." There was no time to guess if they'd be back for the encore trifecta — the ACC had the house lights on before Shriner, who was fiddling with the final notes coming out of his bass, had even left the stage. I don't think either of us were ready for the night to end.

I don't care if it's not "cool" to like Weezer anymore, or if they tour with Angels & Airwaves, or if the best material they've ever put out is more than 10 years old. It's hard not to have fun when the band are obviously having a blast up there. Even the once neurotic and reclusive Cuomo, who apparently didn’t notice the fuzzy caterpillar hanging out under his nose, was visibly happy and enjoying himself while bobbing around the stage, playing with a soccer ball that he threw into the audience, and even bouncing on a trampoline. It was a super-fun night and I left with a giant smile smeared across my face.

Here's the set list:

"My Name Is Jonas"
"Pink Triangle"
"Perfect Situation"
"Say It Ain't So"
"Susanne"
"Keep Fishin'"
"Cold Dark World"
"Pork And Beans"
"Dreamin'"
"Dope Nose"
"Troublemaker"
"Automatic"
"Undone (The Sweater Song)"
"Hash Pipe"
"El Scorcho"
"Morning Glory"
"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)"

Encore:
"Island In The Sun"
"Beverly Hills"

Second encore:
"Sliver"
"Buddy Holly"