More about: Weezer

When the four Weezer boys are on stage pummelling out their classics, it’s hard to imagine that their sound and style date back over 20 years.

‘My Name Is Jonas’ was the opening track on their debut album, and the second song played tonight. The track is quintessentially a 90’s American rock song, but yet when the band rocked it live to the Brixton Academy, it felt as fresh as any modern day rock song. Even when contrasted with the band’s first song of the night, ‘California Kids’, which was taken off their latest album The White Album, a Weezer newbie would be hard pressed to realise that the songs were written two decades apart.

The band maintained this consistency of camouflaging their newer tracks with their older classics throughout the night, plucking tracks from the Blue Album, Red Album, Green Album, Pinkerton, Ratitiude, Make Believe, Everything Will Be Alright In The End and of course the White Album. Oddly, material from Death To False Metal and Hurley remained untouched. Nevertheless, this tasteful selection of Weezer tracks made for a jam-packed evening of anthemic classics.

Particular stand out tracks include ‘Pork And Beans’, which almost had a Nirvana-esque feel as the band switched from the delicate verses to the high-octane and heavy chorus, which made for instant mosh-pit material. ‘Say It Ain’t So’ went down a treat too, with the entire Brixton Academy providing the vocals. Newer tracks such as ‘King Of The World’, ‘Thank God For Girls’ and ‘California Kids’ were also warmly received, but the crowd’s reception suggested that they weren’t necessarily there for these moments.

The climatic encore didn’t fail to disappoint either, with ‘Beverly Hills’ and the timeless ‘Buddy Holly’ raising the roof, even though Rivers Cuomo teased that the band were going to leave without playing ‘Buddy Holly’. I doubt he would have made it out alive if he had done so.

Weezer certainly have a legion of loyal fans that are more than receptive to their live act. Forming a sea of finger W’s to welcome the band on stage has almost become a ritual for Weezer fans around the world and standing amidst the waves of fans who knew every lyric to every song, it became apparent to me that the boys on stage know exactly what their fans want and how to satisfy their Weezer hunger. Any hardcore fan at the Brixton Academy last night will undoubtedly class their performance as faultless.

Unfortunately, the only reservation that can be held against last night’s performance was the lack of enthusiasm or enjoyment displayed by the band. Rivers Cuomo, who clearly enjoyed the attention he was receiving from the crowd, didn’t seem like he was enjoying playing and singing. It almost felt that whilst their music hasn’t tired over time, the band themselves have.

Nevertheless, the band still pulled off a solid performance that more than satisfied the crowd who loved every moment of the gig, even if the band didn’t. In any case, Weezer proved that their 90’s rock sound still resonates today and reminded London just how timeless ‘Buddy Holly’ is.

Last night’s set list was as follows.

1. California Kids
2. My Name Is Jonas
3. Hash Pipe
4. Back to the Shack
5. L.A. Girlz
6. El Scorcho
7. The British Are Coming
8. Pork and Beans
9. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
10. Do You Wanna Get High?
11. Cleopatra
12. The Waste Land
13. Thank God for Girls
14. Say It Ain't So
15. The Good Life
16. You Gave Your Love to Me Softly (Brian Bell on lead vocals)
17. King of the World
18. Island in the Sun
19. Undone - The Sweater Song
Encore:
20. Beverly Hills
21. Buddy Holly

Issue Four of the Gigwise Print magazine is on pre-order now! Order here.

More about: Weezer