Line-up

Headliner
Weezer Last time in Kyoto: First time!

Venue

North Hall, ROHM Theatre Kyoto

13 Sakyo-ku, Okazakisaisyouji-cho, Kyoto-shi,, 606-8342, Kyoto, Japan

rohmtheatrekyoto.jp/en/

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Weezer biography

Weezer is an American alternative rock, power pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992. The band has released nine albums and sold over 10 million albums in the US.

Formed of members Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner, Weezer have been heavy weights on the alternative scene since day one, with their style being described as everything from emo to power pop.

Every album Weezer has released since 1994 has placed in the top 20 of the US album charts, with the majority of Weezer’s albums charting somewhere in the top 10. Three of Weezer’s nine studio albums have been self-titled and are respectively known as the “Blue Album”, the “Red Album” and “The Green Album”.

Despite the band’s popularity and the generally good reviews each of their albums have received, the only Weezer single to have made it into the top ten of the US singles chart was the 2005 single “Beverley Hills”. Nonetheless, Weezer has a strong following cultivated by their extensive touring over the years.

Weezer’s second album “Pinkerton” has achieved somewhat of a cult status among fans, and is considered to be a collection of the band’s greatest and most influential work. Indeed, multiple bands including The Fall of Troy and Real Estate list Weezer as being a vital influence to their work. The band themselves attribute a lot of their creative inspiration to Kiss, Oasis, Nirvana and The Beach Boys.

Weezer has been recognized for their work since their earliest days with one of their debut singles. “Buddy Holly”, winning the band an MTV Video Music Award. The band’s 2008 single “Pork and Beans” also won the band a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

Weezer’s creativity and work ethic have certainly paid dividends so far in their musical journey, and, will continue to do so, I’m certain, for many years to come.

Live reviews

I have seen Weezer play live 10 times and I am seeing them for the eleventh time this week. I went on both Weezer Cruises.

Weezer is one of the tightest live bands I have ever seen. They deliver an outstanding show every single time. I can not get enough and I go see them every chance I get. I believe they are one of the greatest rock bands of our time. Weezer features incredible guitar hooks, catchy lyrics and musicianship. Anyone in the band could swap instruments and they all have their own bands, as well.

Weezer's live performances have evolved with time. The biggest change from the first time I saw them in 1997 to current shows is the bassist. Original bassist Matt Sharp left the band in 1998 and was replaced by Mikey Welsh, who was then replaced by Scott Shriner in 2001. Matt is known for his work with the heavily-Moog band, The Rentals.

Scott is an incredible bassist, whose influence on recordings after the Green Album is significant. Scott also sings lead vocals at most shows. He often sings Dope Nose and on the second cruise, to everyone's delight, he sang King.

In the early days, Weezer's frontman Rivers Cuomo allowed Matt to do most of the speaking in between songs and was quite nervous on stage. Now, Rivers is much more comfortable on stage and is lively. He quite often comes into the audience with a wireless microphone and sings a song. On the first Weezer cruise, he climbed up the dry waterslide on the deck of the ship while singing Photograph.

On the current tour, the drummer Patrick Wilson is featured on lead guitar and Rivers plays drums. On the current tour, Pat sang two songs at the Myrtle Beach show, including a cover of Blur's Song 2. Brian Bell plays guitar and sings mostly backup vocals, but he often sings lead vocals on a song, too.

At almost every show, Weezer plays their hits and throws in at least one b-side, rare track and/or a cover song. This year, they are working on a new album and often include the new song, Back to the Shack. I encourage you to search Youtube for live Weezer from different time frames and get tickets to a show this year.

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