Weezer's nerdy power-pop never gets old
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The Stage AE crowd goes wild for Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. -
Frontman Rivers Cuomo and bass player Scott G. Shriner play as Weezer performs at Stage AE on the North Shore on May 29. -
Frontman Rivers Cuomo of Weezer at Stage AE on the North Shore. -
Rivers Cuomo of Weezer at Stage AE. -
Rivers Cuomo plays to the crowd at Weezer's Stage AE concert May 29.
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Maybe it was standing in the shadow of Heinz Field that made him think about it.
"When I was a kid my favorite team was the Pittsburgh Steelers," Rivers Cuomo said, tossing out names like Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and Lynn Swann. "I would still be willing to play for the Steelers should they need someone like me. I'm pretty fast."
Weezer's ironic nerd-rock frontman explained that not having the body type for football drove him to the guitar, much to the delight of the crowd gathered at Stage AE Sunday night for the band's first show here in nine years.
Those who came to party like it was 1994 certainly got what they wanted as Weezer banged out seven of the 10 songs from its classic debut, aka "The Blue Album." Maybe it was ironic that the only song from the new album, "Hurley," was a set opener called "Memories" that came with a chorus of "Memories, make me want to go back there..."
Fortunately for Weezer and the fans, simple four-minute power-pop songs never get old -- and they're not all that tough to play well. "Hash Pipe," creeping along like the "Peter Gunn" theme, was power-chord heaven. "Perfect Situation," "Say It Ain't So" and "Island in the Sun" inspired joyous sing-alongs, even if the latter was just a "hip-hip."
The band's most adventurous song of the night was a head-scratcher. Rivers explained that they learned "Paranoid Android" because Radiohead is one of their favorite bands, but that was a lot of effort for a note-by-note version with weaker vocals. Perhaps they should have learned an epic song from a band that's not around to play it anymore.
While Mr. Cuomo originally hit the pop world as one of the more shy frontmen, he's anything but now. He ran around the stage in his purple polo shirt and jeans, throwing water and kicking a soccer ball and a blow-up boxing glove, while also taking on a few of the killer guitar solos himself. On "Keep Fishing," he told the band to cover for him while he went out to be with "his people," and he ended up in the concourse, delivering the song from the soundboard.
After revving people up with "In the Garage," "Beverly Hills" and other uptempo rockers, Weezer left on kind of a down note, trying to make their guitars cry on "Only in Dreams." The crowd didn't work that hard for an encore, but Weezer returned anyway to rock out ecstatically on the Cheap Trick nod "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" and the signature hit "Buddy Holly."
Earlier the band had teased the riffs from Yes' "Long Distance Runaround" and ZZ Top's "La Grange" -- bands that are opposites of Weezer in totally different ways. In that vein they climaxed the set all beating drums on Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper."
Mr. Cuomo promised they'd come back soon, which is cool, because while Weezer may not be the most brilliant band in the world, nine years was too long to wait for this kind of foolishness and fun.
First Published May 30, 2011 12:00 am
