Weezer

Given the current situation, there was a bit of a protest over the warm-up band, Angels & Airwaves. Tom DeLonge was the front-man, guitarist/vocalist for Blink-182. Following is a little background to help explain the up-rising.

The band, Angels & Airwaves, is made up of:
Tom DeLonge — lead vocals, rhythm guitar (Blink 182 and Box Car Racer)
David Kennedy — lead guitar, keyboards (Over My Dead Body, Hazen Street and Box Car Racer)
Matt Wachter — bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (30 Seconds to Mars)
Atom Willard — drums, percussion (Rocket From the Crypt and Offspring)

Blink-182 was an American pop punk band formed in 1992. In 2005, DeLonge left the band on an "indefinite hiatus". This was quite disappointing for their fans. Then, on September 19, 2008, Travis Barker (Blink-182 drummer) sustained second and third degree burns to his lower body and torso in a plane crash in Columbia, South Carolina. Barker's personal assistant Chris Baker, security guard Charles "Che" Still, and the two pilots of the aircraft were killed when the plane overran the runway and burst into flames. Barker was ejected out of the jet. Witnesses said Barker was on fire. Some fans considered it partially Tom DeLonge's fault through "the butterfly effect". After all, if Tom hadn't broken up the band, Travis wouldn't have been on that jet.

Given this situation, we planned a boycott of Angels and Airwaves. Arriving late, we were met at the parking lot by a strange attendant. When quized about his lack of ID and parking tickets, he fessed-up to being bogus. However, the glee from saving the exorbitant parking fee was short lived. Upon arrival to the gate, we were informed the show was sold out. Sold out?!?!? Dag-nab-it. To come all that way only to be left ticketless was a sad situation. Certainly, we could scalp a couple tickets? No. There was a gad-zillion police and not one scalper to be found. Walking around aimlessly, we prayed for a miracle. Was that a light on in the distant ticket window. Ah ha! One ticket window was still open. And, yes! They still had tickets. Phew! We were in.

So, we ended up catching the end of Angels and Airwaves. And, despite our disgust for Tom, we had to admit they sounded good. They looked good, too, with an impressive light and stage show. As a fan of Offspring and 30 Seconds to Mars, I was glad we got to see Matt and Atom's rhythm section.

Weezer
Rivers Cuomo — vocals, guitar, drums
Patrick Wilson — drums, vocals
Brian Bell — guitar, vocals, keyboards
Scott Shriner — bass, vocals, guitars, keyboards

The crowd for Weezer was very diverse and not nearly as nerdy as I thought they'd be. As a matter of fact, there were a few out breaks of wild fighting during the pre-show intermission.

Luckily, our ticket prayers had been more than just answered. Our seats were amazingly spectacular. Plus, the audience around us was cool. Dancing girls and singing guys that all wanted to stand and jam for the entire show. That was O.K. with us. One song after another had a nice catchy hook, great harmonies and sweet musicianship. You wouldn't think that you'd know that many Weezer songs but almost every song was a "hit".

The other thing I hadn't realized about Weezer was their diverse ability as musicians. Each member was a strong vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist. Just watching them switch positions around was entertaining enough. They didn't even need to make any sound.

Weezer initially took the stage all clad in white jumpsuits. It was reminiscent of bands like Devo. Several songs into the show they all stripped off the jumpsuits to reveal red sweat suits.

The stage was set up in such a way that that you could easily see the individuals playing. There was a good light show with a large screen of lights at the year of the stage. The sound quality was decent. Several times during the show, additional musicians joined in... Atom Willard played drums on two or three songs. For the encore, a score or two of "Weezer fans" joined in an orchestra playing a wide range of instruments. There were two harp players, trumpet, trombone, saxophones and even a didgeridoo. Rivers interviewed a few of the musicians. Q: "Have you ever played harp on a Weezer song before?" A: "Yes." Q: To one of the guitar players, "How old are you and where are you from?" A: "Fifteen and I'm from the Ambler area."

They all went into Island In The Sun. It was really something you had to see (and hear) to believe. Rivers took his wireless microphone around and let various players wail out solos. As far as a rating of the show, I'd have to borrow a line from the song, "You can’t find the words to say."

Weezer Setlist
my Name Is Jonas
Pink Triangle
Perfect Situation
Say It Ain't So
Suzanna
Keep Fishin'
King
Undone (The Sweater Song with Tom DeLonge and Atom Willard)
Pork and Beans
Dreamin'
Dope Nose
Troublemaker
Automatic
Hash Pipe
El Scorcho
Morning Glory
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived