One of the big featured concert tours this summer is Weezer and Panic! at the Disco's Summer Tour 2016 ft. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, which highlights both Panic! and Weezer's new albums which were released this year, "Death of a Bachelor" and "White Album" respectively. Although Weezer is technically the headliner for this tour, the majority of the concert go-er's are all Panic! fans. A few older folks in Weezer T-shirts wade among a sea of teens with dark eyeliner and skinny jeans, many of whom are planning to leave as soon as Panic! finishes their set. The secret is: they're missing the best part of the show.
Weezer is an incredibly underrated band — even Panic!'s lead singer, Brendon Urie, states during the show that music from Weezer's "Pinkerton" and "Blue Album" were what he used to learn how to play both drums and guitar, and he loves getting a free concert from his heroes every night when he's finished performing. Although many of us recognize some of their hits such as "Say it Ain't So," "Island in the Sun" and "Buddy Holly," very few people from the younger generation connect these songs back to the band itself and have never bothered to listen to any of their less well known tracks.
Weezer first got together in 1992 and their first single "Undone- The Sweater Song" debuted in 1994 with their first album, most commonly referred to as "The Blue Album." Due to their long history as a band, their fan base lies more with the older generation than the '90s kids and Millennials who were too young or hadn't even been born when the band was gaining popularity.
About a year ago, I was encouraged to dive into the deep tracks of Weezer's extensive discography; I was not disappointed. Their genre has been described as alternative rock, pop punk, indie rock and most poignantly — geek rock. This categorization fits them so well because, well — they really are a group of geeks that make music! It gives them both a unique sound quality and an overall down to Earth feel.
Patrick Wilson (drums), Scott Shriner (bass guitar), Rivers Cuomo (lead/rhythm guitar and vocals) and Brian Bell (lead/rhythm guitar) are great friends and an incredible musical team. In addition to heading the band, Rivers is both a brilliant musician and lyricist. Cuomo has authored or co-authored the extreme majority of Weezer's songs and writes many of them based on his own experiences. If you really listen to what he's saying, especially listen to music from the various albums chronologically, you really get a very moving snapshot of River's life and various struggles with love and his family. Much of their music is incredibly meaningful, but still fun. Viewing their music videos, it is immediately apparent by their strangeness that they don't take themselves too seriously, unlike many modern artists. Also videos within the same album often have a sense of continuity. If you're not sure you get my meaning about how odd these videos are, just go check out the video for "Thank God For Girls."
But among all of these reasons to love them, the crowning jewel in my transition into a true Weezer fan was seeing them live. I had the great privilege to attend one of their Summer Tour 2016 performances recently and to say the least, I was blown away. I had mentioned before that because Weezer's first album debuted in 1994, their discography is massive. That being said, they managed to cleverly transition seamlessly from one song to another without hesitation, packing tons of content into their set list despite time constraints. Their performance was so much fun — packed with colorful graphics, set changes, beach balls and confetti cannons. Plus, the band members were charismatic and so appreciative of all of the fans' enthusiasm.
Everyone should take a moment to take a closer listen to this frequently overlooked band and, if you can, catch them on tour this summer! I promise you won't be sorry. Who knows, maybe Weezer will turn out to be your music soulmate this summer, and you'll walk away feeling like you're "King of The World."
