The connotation of a band playing the local fair is that they have somehow lost relevance, or never had any. Thinking about a “fair band,” you would draw upon names like Eddie Money, a Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys, or Rick Springfield. Yeah, playing the fair has traditionally been about a grade above playing an Indian Casino or a theme park.
But, looking at the Orange County Fair’s lineup this year, there is little that is fair-like about the roster of acts they have pulled in to play at the site’s quite large Pacific Amphetheatre. B.B. King is scheduled, hell, Bob Dylan already played, and, well, then there is Weezer. Sure, if we are going to talk about relevance as far as their current output of music goes, we can have a fine debate about King, or Dylan, or Weezer. But, with regards to their back catalog and, you know, the history of rock and roll, there is no real debate with regards to any of those artists.
And with their place in rock history cemented firmly with their classic album Pinkerton, it seems like Rivers Cuomo and his crew are more set on having fun than anything else, these days. They just played a show in New York where Cuomo got to roll around the audience with Wayne Coyne in dual inflatable bubbles. Last year, the band embarked on their Memories Tour where their first two albums were celebrated in a blissful dance with nostalgia. Even their setlists, which are known to feature covers of particularly timely songs, seem tailored not toward some kind of artistic expression or egotistical display, but toward crowd-pleasing. A quick glance at their setlist before they started revealed that I was familiar with every single song that was to be played. When was the last time you could say that?
The band set the tone immediately, opening with “Troublemaker” and seeing Cuomo immediately go into the crowd to deliver the poor-sounding but full-of-energy tune. When the singer found his way back to the stage, the band delivered a focused and enthusiastic start to their set, offering four of the next six songs from their beloved debut album, and even charming their way through a festive version of current radio staple “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People. Its inclusion in the set will remind people of when the band was performing MGMT’s “Kids,” both pop-rock songs that became deeply ingrained in the youth consciousness. These kind of songs were much more common in Weezer’s day, and Lord knows Weezer has had their fair share of them.
In one of the highlights of the show, Cuomo began Green Album standout “Island In The Sun” solo, with the crowd gently helping him along. But, as the chorus kicked in, the darkened stage was illuminated and the full-band joined Rivers for a particularly loud and emphatic conclusion. In another, the band made their way through Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” in a remarkably faithful endeavor. Sure, when you try to cover something note for note, ultimately you will notice the missed cues more than anything. But still, Pat Wilson’s impression of Johnny Greenwood’s guitar-work was impressive, as was the band’s focus to get through the entirety of the difficult song.
And then there was “Pork And Beans,” in which all the members (Wilson, Brian Bell, Scott Shriner, and Josh Freese) sang a line of the second verse. Cuomo is such a ham on stage that it becomes easy to forget Weezer is a band. But Wilson and Cuomo have been together since the beginning, Bell not long after that, and as they showed in their final swan-song moment of all standing behind the drumset to hammer the end of “Buddy Holly” together, they live and die as a band. Cuomo may get most of the glory, but there is a true symbiotic relationship to the band.
Sure, you could complain about the relative lack of Pinkerton songs (only “Pink Triangle” was played) and you can bitch about the quality of some of the later Weezer songs (“I Want You To” really rubs me the wrong way), but Weezer delivered a fun night of 100% familiar songs to an audience that probably doesn’t see as many shows as a rock critic. There were babies in attendance, and there were grandparents. There were couples and there were best friends. And, at some point over the past 20 years, Weezer had touched their lives. So, as Cuomo made his way back into the audience for the encore, he was delivering not only on his persona as an everyman, but also on the audiences expectation for something special. Needless to say, I doubt there were many in the audience that didn’t have their expectation fulfilled, or, in my case, exceeded.
Setlist:
Troublemaker
Surf Wax America
Perfect Situation
No One Else
Undone – The Sweater Song
Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People cover)
My Name Is Jonas
Dope Nose
Island in the Sun
Pork and Beans
Pink Triangle
Photograph
Keep Fishin’
Hash Pipe
Paranoid Android (Radiohead cover)
Beverly Hills
Say It Ain’t So
(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
Buddy Holly
