Concerts thread: Best/Worst/Next/Last one you attended?

Saw the Pixies and Weezer in a double bill at an outdoor ampitheater last week.

Missed the start of the Pixies set because the show started earlier than expected. What we saw was fantastic. Frank Black just roared right through a pretty lengthy set and they played enough of the classics to satisfy. Made me wish I had seen them in their prime (with Kim Deal), but didn’t disappoint at all.

Weezer was awful. They don’t *sound* awful, but their songs anymore are either lesser versions of songs tbey’ve already written or terrible outright. About a third of the set was covers — yes “Africa” and other really obvious crap I would have rolled my eyes at if it had come from a neighborhood bar band.

Maybe we should start a “Why does Weezer suck now” thread and we can delve into what the fuck happened to that band after the first two albums. (Well I also am sort of a Maladroit apologist too.)

 

Hold Steady from around 2008 or so is still the best live band I’ve ever seen.

 

I saw Weezer when they were touring behind their debut. No stage presence, note-for-note recreations of the songs on that album, no covers etc., I think they played "Buddy Holly" twice. Just shit. Certainly a band that should never have been headlining at that time.

 

I have to wonder whether we were at the same show, because your first two sentences are almost verbatim for my wife and I (we saw the start of the Pixies, but the show started earlier than expected). However, the rest of what you wrote just goes to prove how subjective musical tastes are for all of us, as our experience couldn't have been more different.

First, a disclaimer. I went into the show not being very familiar with the Pixies. So with that caveat out of the way, I thought they were awful. Just loud and messy and mostly incoherent. I felt they were at their best on the few songs where the female bassist had significant vocal parts. I felt like most of what came out of the lead singer's mouth was gibberish, and he simply screamed his way through a handful of songs. Not my idea of a fun show.

On the other hand, I thought Weezer was fantastic. They played at least four songs off the first album, all of their hits save "If You're Wondering" and were very engaging. Rivers spent some time out in the crowd. Yes, they played "Africa," and it should have been expected given the social media frenzy amongst Weezer fans the past few months about the teenage girl's campaign to have them cover the song. Otherwise, they sampled one Green Day song and covered "Take On Me" by A-ha and "Happy Together" by the Turtles. I personally enjoyed all of it.

I wanted to go see one of my favorite bands play my favorite songs so that I could sing along and have a great night out with my wife. That's exactly what I got from the experience.

 

My thoughts on why Weezer seems so out of place in my music collection now? I think Weezer is exactly the same. I think I just grew up. Rivers Cuomo's man-baby act feels weirder and creepier the older he gets. He's 48. Songs about spending an entire summer in California with teenagers are weird. An 18-year-old singing "Thank God for Girls" is oddly charming. A 48-year-old singing it sounds like the words of a man who has an Instagram account with a fake picture.

 

I certainly don't begrudge someone enjoying Weezer. I love the first two albums. For my personal taste they didn't sustain that level of songwriting.

I was excited when they opened with "Buddy Holly," but frustrated when they followed that right into "Beverly Hills." At one point they played something none of us recognized, off a recent album. One friend asked, "What's this," and another said, "It's that song that sounds like 'The Good Life' but isn't." They are even snobbier than I am about Weezer, because I went back and listened to Maladroit again this week and confirmed how much I liked it. I just don't feel any soul in their new music. Very plastic, if that makes any sense.

I also think @Hermes has a point, in that after the show I began scrutinizing early Weezer against how I feel about the band now. I still like those early albums, but maybe I expected a higher ceiling than they were capable of.

 

Oh, and the Pixies/Weezer show was in suburban Indianapolis.

 

Apologies if this was already posted, but this review/takedown of a recent Jimmy Buffet/Eagles show caught my eye. Follow through for the "set lists" at the end. Jimmy Buffett & the Eagles at Minneapolis' Target Field: A timeline | City Pages

 

Fun stuff, especially the "set list" for the Eagles.
Please tell me there's a "Mac Sabbath"-style band covering Eagles songs. Probably not. Henley's lawyers would be all over it.

 

That is pretty good, I actually thought a couple of those Buffett songs were real.

I turned down a suite ticket for tonight's Eagles show in Toronto. Huggy Jr. is in a baseball tournament today and while I could have made the show I have absolutely no interest in rushing downtown to see them, especially without Glenn Frey. This review confirms I am not missing anything.

 

Honestly I don’t know Buffet’s work well enough. Didn’t realize the sets lists were gags until I got to “Sale at Men’s Wearhouse.” (Probably should have been tipped off by “Cirrhosis Circus.”)

 

I certainly appreciate your reply and explanation, and likewise do not begrudge your take. I can see where you are coming from, as I must admit there hasn't really been any recent Weezer stuff that blows me away. But I love "Perfect Situation" and "Pork and Beans" and "Hash Pipe" and lots of stuff since their first two albums.

And we were at the same show. Tickets said 7:30. The opening band, the Wombats, was already leaving the stage at that point. So there was certainly a disconnect.

All this said, I still didn't enjoy the Pixies.