I owe Rivers Cuomo and Weezer a lot. Sure they've deteriorated into a campy joke rock band these days, but they've given me tons of great music/memories over the years, and are also the lads who first exposed me to Best Coast when they tapped Bethany and Bob to open their 2010 Memories tour. I was in awe of their stripped down femmed out Beach Boys meets Ramones sound. A new fan was born.
This was my first time seeing Best Coast since then but the year long wait was worth it. They were headlining their first big time show at the Wiltern. New album out, new touring band members, playing swanky venues...it appears that big things are happening in the Best Coast camp these days. We arrived during the end of Abe Vigoda's opening set. JEFF The Brotherhood was next. I can honestly say I dug their fuzzed out, crunchy rock'n'roll attack. I think I'll be keeping my eye out for them in the future.
Best Coast took the stage around 10:30pm and their sleuth of adoring, mostly female fans, went nuts. I gotta say, I'm still not used to these normal people concerts where attractive people tend to congregate. I'm used to scores of sweaty dudes and the occasional trophy girlfriend at metal shows. Nothing prepared me for the amount of hot ladies roaming around the Wiltern. Imagine all the models from those American Apparel ads showed up, had a few drinks and started dancing. Thank you Best Coast. Thank you.
Oh yeah, so the band was amazing. The new lineup is superb. When I saw them open for Weezer they were a trio without a bassist and a "eh" drummer. Their new drummer is solid as hell and the addition of a bass player made a world of difference. The band's sound was more full and powerful than last time. Also, Bethany's voice was simply stellar. I remember her having trouble singing "Island In The Sun" with Rivers in 2010, now she was belting out Fleetwood Mac covers like a champ. They played pretty much all of their debut album Crazy For You as well as a bunch of new material off The Only Place. All the new songs sounded great, meaning I have to get off my ass and get the record all ready. Tons of fun with Best Coast at the Wiltern. Tons.
Former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead in his Chicago hotel room this weekend. He was only 40 years old. I've read reports that drugs might have been a factor but I really hope not. Welsh joined Weezer v2.0 in 1998, replacing original bass player Matt Sharp, played on the band's second self-titled album (aka The Green Album) that resurrected their career and then abruptly left the band in 2001 after suffering a nervous breakdown. He left the music business for good, spending the last decade reinventing himself as an artist and family man. R.I.P. sir.
I've been a Weezer fan forever. Listening to their early material is the sonic equivalent of eating birthday cake, one of the most instantly gratifying experiences that almost anyone with a pulse will love. Their self titled debut album was a polished slab of rocking power pop, aka The Blue Album, and served as a critical/commercial smash back in the day, sounding like a long lost Beach Boys/KISS collaboration. Their follow up album Pinkerton was the anti-Blue Album: dark, raw and deeply personal. It alienated their mainstream fanbase, tanked on the album charts and prompted the band to take a several year hiatus. Too bad, because it's quite frankly the band's best album and has become a cult classic since it's initial release. So when I found out Weezer was playing Blue Album and Pinkerton in their entirety on their Memories Tour, I was STOKED to say the least. On this tour, the band played two nights in each city with a greatest hits set followed by an encore performance of the selected "classic" album. Heres my rundown for their LA tour stop:
LA natives/hipster darlings Best Coast opened both nights. We caught their full set on night Friday but missed them on Saturday due to rain/traffic. I really liked them even though my girlfriend and buddy who tagged along were "eh" about their performance. If Hole played 1950's surf rock, they would sound a lot like Best Coast.
So the modern day version of Weezer took the stage soon after. They blasted through a a greatest hits setlist of tunes in reverse chronological order. Starting off with their latest single "Memories" on both nights, then playing a mixed bag of tracks ranging from FML songs like "Beverly Hills" and "Troublemaker" (songs that make me question my undying loyalty to this band) to rare soundtrack cuts like "Suzanne" and "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" that had everyone on their feet. They played a good number of Green Album songs and had Bethany from Best Coast come out and duet with Rivers on "Island In the Sun" on both nights. This I approved of, but having the fat dude from Lost come out and butcher "Perfect Situation" and "If You're Wondering If I Want You To," I could have lived without that. Josh Freese did an awesome job on drums though, allowing regular Weezer drummer pat to handle lead guitar while Rivers lived out his midlife crisis and ran around the stage/venue.
Alright, so the main course! Old school Weezer was back from the dead! Pat back on drums, Rivers singing/playing guitar and not making a fool of himself. Night 1's performance of the Blue Album was awesome but had a few flaws. The band seemed kind of winded from their earlier set and some of the energy was lacking, and Rivers seemed to have some vocal and guitar troubles during a few songs. Most noticeably during the show's closer, the 8 min I can't believe I'm finally seeing this song live, "Only In Dreams." I was a little bummed about this, but luckily they played "Only In Dreams" AGAIN as part of Night 2's greatest hits set and nailed it. Here's the proof:
They still play a good chunk of Blue Album songs live to this day (Buddy Holly, My Name is Jonas, Surf Wax, Undone, Say It Ain't So) so Night 1 wasn't really that much of an epic event other than celebrating the more obscure tracks like "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" "In the Garage" and "Holiday."
Especially "Holiday!" That's such a flawless song.
Night 2's performance of Pinkerton was amazing. Amazing because unlike Blue Album, the band almost NEVER plays any Pinkerton songs live so it was a real treat to finally see this stuff in person. Amazing because the band was fired up and and sounded great. "Tired of Sex" "Getchoo" "Across The Sea", all amazing to finally experience live. The sing along for "El Scorcho" was the probably the coolest concert experience of the year. Here's a clip of "Falling For You" from some chick with a waaay better seat than me.
Night 2's finale, Rivers playing "Butterfly" was spine chillingly awesome. Never in a million years did I expect to see this song performed live. Rivers Cuomo, the metal head turned alternative rock guru, playing the most stripped down/personal song from Pinkerton, the album that was bashed into oblivion some 13 years ago was greeted with rousing applause from thousands of fans when he finished on this night. Circle of life type shit right there.
Awesome shows. The icing on the cake was Rivers even dressing up in his vintage 90's clothes to try and look the part as well! I hope my old Weezer sticks around, I don't know how many more craptacular Make Believe or Raditude type albums I can take.
*side note*
I met Nicole Richie after Night 1's concert walking around Universal City Walk. She was surprisingly cute as hell in person.
