Weezer, October 14 at the Forum

I hand't planned on going to the Weezer show but not one but two of my friends asked me to get tickets for them so I thought I'd go along. Also, the new album (the self-titled "red" one) pretty much sucks but I figured at worst it would be a night out with my friends, both of which happen to be hot chicks. I got lucky in the pre-sale and got floor tickets so at least I had their gratitude and a decent view of the stage (though I would have traded it for floor tickets for the Nine Inch Nails show a few months back). I've seen Weezer a few times before, mostly at festivals, and they've never impressed me so much as a great live band. They make fantastic pop songs but for me they never sustain a full album (though Pinkerton comes really close). They played a stadium show as well as they could, for a band that shouldn't be playing stadium shows, unless they're opening. Not that I want to discount Weezer's popularity, but they're a band that should be playing really great club shows, not mostly-filled arena shows. Also, hearing their music in such a large venue quickly shows how much the production on their albums fills the spaces in their music. The most striking thing to me at this show was how interchangeable the singers could be. Rivers didn't even sing the first song ("My Name is Jonas"), just paced around the stage wearing a mask, presumably playing guitar, as the rest of the guys in the band took turns singing, which happened throughout most of the show. Rivers stopped being interested in being in the band years ago, probably around the time that Pinkerton came out and subsequently flopped. He's one of the most gifted pop-songwriters of the last 20 years but you can tell it's just a job for him. He writes songs just to keep things going and especially on the newest album he ran out of steam, finally giving in to letting the other members of the band write and sing some tracks, which would be bad enough but even Rivers couldn't pull out more than two or three of his own that are worth keeping. The new stuff played in the live show had that same feel: the other guys in the band got to play their own stuff half-way through and at least the crowd were devoted -- or polite (or not terribly interested in the first place) -- enough to not voice their own displeasure. The band should have broken up years ago but they keep it going, like employees staying in a job that they no longer put their heart into but keep in it because it pays so well and keep hoping something better will come along. And Rivers just seems like a bad boss. The only thing worse than a leader trying to impose his vision for a master plan on you is when he gives up and lets you do what you want and offers no direction. But Rivers is no dummy: the band played every one of the hits, even if it was only muscle-memory carrying them through the set. It was like someone begrudgingly playing his one hit song, the one he's played a hundred thousand times before, hoping tonight that the crowd won't scream out its title but it's the only thing they want to hear. And that's every single song (except for most of the new ones). Rivers, even playing a home-town show, didn't show a bit of enthusiasm, which brought the rest of the band down as well, until the end of the show when they did a cover of Nirvana's "Sliver," which was the most spirited thing in the whole performance but most of the audience (who were mostly babies 15 years ago when that song was on the radio) were left scratching their heads, and also brought 40 or 50 kids on stage, with every conceivable instrument, to play along with “Island in the Sun,” which was fun, if forced (it probably played better in the Mid-West). Though points for playing "Suzanne" (trying to change it up a little shows maybe they're trying to eek some kind of satisfaction out of their songs). And bringing some members of openers Angels & Airwaves, including the guy from Blink-182, on stage to help with one of the songs and I don't remember what song but they didn't get in the way so at least there's that. Weezer should have broken up years ago, to preserve their legend, but they should do now it to cut their losses. If they only want to play the hits to a stadium crowd, they should do it after being broken up for 12 years, like their heroes the Pixies. They might lose some of their audience to adulthood but at least they might reclaim the joy of playing to people who are rabid about them.
I was hoping to get there in time to see Tokyo Police Club, who opened, but getting there that early would also have meant sitting through Angels & Airwaves so I didn't mind missing them.