It feels like only last week I was thrown out of a nightclub for slamming to Teen Spirit. It feels like I can still watch a foetal grunge band in the back-room of my local boozer and fight my stomach as it knots and my fists as they clench to the sound of raw and undiluted energy. It feels like the world is Weezer’s oyster, and as soon as they skulk onto the stage two thousand people will cheer and cry with joy and jump with an electric ferocity, like the moment was theirs and theirs alone to cherish and that no-one outside this little piece of history would gain admission.

And in a strange kind of way, it’s true. Of course, Weezer are no longer the breakthrough punkers that they once were; the indefinite hiatus taken after Pinkerton plunged the band into a mysterious void where no-one knew what was coming next; other bands came and went, trends came and went, and Blink 182 and a host of other nu-comic-sports-skate-crossover-hardcore-emo-retro-metallers secured the top spot for feel-sorry for ‘em likeable geek-rock. But this is Weezer’s patch, and now they’re back to settle the score once and for all.

The stageplan wouldn’t look out of place on a minimalist low budget song video; buzzing bulbs form the Weezer W dangling from the ceiling, the stage completely bare save for a drum kit and three microphone stands. No amps, no video screens, no keyboards; no worries.

As expected, The Green Album provides the meat of the set; nostalgia may be a comfy notion, but Weezer have thankfully moved with the times, mellowing somewhat for newer songs such as Island in the Sun and the spankingly good hit single Hash Pipe, but still remembering how to rock out in fine style as with The Sweater Song and Buddy Holly, now given a deliciously cryptic intro, with the majority of the crowd bewildered as to what the band were playing until singer Rivers Cuomo breaks into the song’s familiar opening lines.

You always knew it was going to be special. And as they left the stage after a rousing version of Surf Wax America, those two thousand fans cheered with such joy you knew that most of them had been waiting for five years just for this one moment. As had Weezer themselves, very probably.

And thankfully, it was all worthwhile. So hold on to your memories of that geek-rock punk band from 1995 and smile; they’re back, they’re brilliant, and it’s almost like they never went away.

Karl Cremin

Live Reviews
The Music Bar