Pouring rain didn’t stop a sellout crowd from turning out at the Bank of America Pavilion to support one of Boston’s most beloved groups, Weezer. The stop on May 19th was the first appearance for the quintet on their “summer” tour and from the start the crowd of 5000 was rocking hard to some classic pieces of nerd rock, as well as hits off “Hurley” and “Ratitude.” Despite the rain the crowd was energetic and loud for the duration of Weezer’s 19-song set. One thing that can definitely be said about Weezer is that ever since their big break in 1994, they have not been afraid to change things up; this show was no different. Out of the 19 songs they played an astounding eight were off of their self-titled debut album (a.k.a. the Blue Album).
A show this awesome might have something to do with their Boston connection. Front-man Rivers Cuomo famously took four years off at the height of the band’s popularity to attend Harvard and ever since Boston has been a fixture for any Weezer tour. The band was obviously thrilled to be back on tour and took the stage with a positive attitude that continued for the whole set.
The Pavilion went black at 8:45 PM and Weezer took the stage amidst deafening screams. They then cranked out a powerful version of their recent hit “Memories” before moving on to “Troublemaker.” This second track was the first chance the crowd got to see Cuomo’s over the top stage antics. Cuomo repeatedly picked up a ukulele and threw in down on the stage over the duration of the song. Turns out that was tame compared to some of his later antics, but it gave the crowd an indicator of the wild night to come.
A standout track from the evening was “Say It Aint So,” their smash hit from 1994 and signature power ballad that had everyone singing every word. The best song of the night without question was “My Name Is Jonas.” Weezer held the crowd in the palm of their hand; during that particular track the entire pavilion crowd was dancing their respective asses off.
Some crazy antics from Cuomo included spraying bottles of water on the crowd multiple times, giving his guitar to a photographer for a few songs, having people in the front row tie his shoes, and throwing rolls of toilet paper into the crowd. Cuomo dropped awkward lines like “a little physical interaction between Weezer and the fans never hurt anyone.” Perhaps his craziest antic of the night was chasing a roadie around the stage during the encore after the poor fellow tried to adjust one of the amps. Such is life as a Weezer crewmember, I guess. The biggest screams of the night came on the second song of the encore, “Buddy Holly,” possibly the band’s most well known songs. It’s the perfect way to end a phenomenal show and it had everyone in the venue first pumping and jumping in rhythm. If they keep putting on shows like this, Weezer will never loose their fans. This career band won’t stop touring in the near future, which is great news for me because next time they’re in Boston you can bet I’ll be there.
For more information on Weezer go to http://weezer.com/.