photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

The Flaming Lips and Weezer played their second of two co-headlining shows at a wet Jones Beach on Friday (7/29). As we learned from the first show in NJ the night before, Wayne and Rivers opened the show by riding in their own space bubbles as the remaining members of both bands played "Sweet Leaf" (Black Sabbath) on stage. That was followed by alternating sets by the two bands every few songs, starting with The Flaming Lips.

According to Rolling Stone, "The Flaming Lips had a tougher job because they were playing to what was clearly a majority Weezer fan audience. They even had to endure some obnoxious "Weezer! Weezer!" chants between songs." Those in attendance who do appreciate the Flaming Lips's great work were treated to their recent Neon Indian collaboration "Is David Bowie Dying?," in addition to popular standouts like "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," "What Is the Light?" "The Observer," and "Do You Realize??"

Weezer, whose new material is slightly lacking (to say the least), focused a little more on their earlier stuff like they did on their Blue Album/Pinkerton tour. They played old favorites like "El Scorcho," "My Name is Jonas," "Surf Wax America," and "Buddy Holly," though they didn't touch on early b-sides like they did the previous night when New Jerseyans were rewarded with "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" and "Susanne," in addition to two more Pinkerton tracks. They also covered Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" like they did in May when they posted a live-in-studio video of them recording the track to their YouTube account.

The encore saw both bands rejoin on stage for one of each band's quirkier tracks. Wayne and Rivers traded verses on the Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly" and Rivers sang lead on "Undone - The Sweater Song" as Wayne ran into the audience shooting confetti.

Yeasayer opened the show in the rain with a short set made up of their singles and fan favorites.

More pictures, videos, and setlists from the show below...

Continue reading "Weezer & the Flaming Lips shared the stage again @ Jones Beach (pics, setlist, videos & Yeasayer too)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

The Flaming Lips and Weezer played side-by-side sets at PNC Banks Arts Center last night (7/28) with an opening set from Yeasayer (who we missed). Pictures from the NJ show are in this post.

As mentioned, Rivers Cuomo was quoted in a recent press release saying, "I asked Wayne if he has an extra bubble I could ride in." He wasn't joking! Toby Tenenbaum, who shot the show, writes:

The special intro comprised the two lead singers from Flaming Lips and Weezer (Wayne Coyne and River Cuomo) pulling one of the most original stunts I had ever seen. They were both inside their own inflatable balloon and used it to crowd-walk/surf over the heads of the crowd. It was truly awesome and unique.

As the two frontmen rolled around the audience in the space balls, the remaining band members on stage played a rendition of Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf." Check out a video of all of that happening below.

The two bands then alternated every few songs. To quote Toby again, "With the average song length for FL being about 6 minutes per song and for Weezer its the standard 3 minutes per song it felt that Weezer were simply playing intermittently between a Flaming Lips show. One high point for Weezer was the Radiohead Paranoid Android cover." The bands also played together at the end of the show. The full setlist and other videos are also below.

All three bands will play again tonight (7/29) at Jones Beach Theater in Long Island. Tickets are still available. Stay tuned for pictures and a review from that show too, and congrats to all the BV contest winners that were/are in attendance.

More pictures, the video and the NJ setlist below...

Continue reading "Weezer & the Flaming Lips played 'side by side' @ PNC Bank Arts Center (pics, video & setlist)"

words & photos by Kurt Christensen

With the last few albums possibly alienating longtime Weezer fans, Rivers Cuomo and company certainly set to make things right with their show at Williamsburg Waterfront Friday night. Rivers was firing on all cylinders as they powered through a set with a wide mix from their catalog, and leaned heavily on the Blue Album, which was welcomed by the packed crowd. However, the only song from Pinkerton was El Scorcho.

Openers AWOLnation started the show around 6:30, with much of the crowd not there yet. (There was some confusion to show start time, since the ticketmaster site said 5:30 doors, but the Weezer website said 7:00). They were followed by Rival Schools. Walter Schreifels, sporting aviator glasses, led the band through several new unreleased songs, and several songs from United By Fate. The newer material definitely had more of a power pop edge to it than the older material.

After Rival Schools, the crowd waited impatiently for Weezer, with the front throwing up W's to the photographers in the pit. After an introduction by Matt Pinfield, Weezer hit the stage playing a brief intro into Hash Pipe. Rivers was all over the place, running around in a Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls Jersey. He climbed out on the speakers during troublemaker, jumping into the crowd and hugging fans while he sang. A little bit later in the set, Rivers ran to the other side of the stage, and into the beer garden. There he sang in the crowd, and returned to the stage with an emergency exit sign on a pole.

During the encore, they played a medley of Kids by MGMT, followed by Poker Face, during which Rivers donned a long blond wig. The show was closed with Buddy Holly.

The overall sound was good, but not nearly as impressive as the sound during Faith No More's shows two weeks earlier. FNM had a noticeably larger speaker array, and it made a huge difference in projecting sound over the large open space. Regardless, the sound was still very good, and the audience was really into it.

More pictures and the setlist below...

Continue reading "Weezer, Rival Schools & Awolnation played Williamsburg Waterfront (pics & setlist)"

the bus crash

The lead singer of the rock band Weezer was involved in a bus accident Sunday that left him and another passenger in an upstate New York hospital.

Rivers Cuomo, 40, complained of rib pain and was transferred, along with one other passenger, to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, New York.

Cuomo's wife, daughter, and a fifth passenger on the bus were uninjured. The bus was traveling from Toronto, Ontario, to Boston, Massachusetts, for a show Monday night at the Agganis Arena at Boston University. [CNN]

Weezer and Paramore are the first artists announced for the 2010 NJ emo & pop punk fest (that occasionally throws in acts like Weird Al, Gwar, MC Hammer and Andrew WK) known as The Bamboozle (May 1-2). Tickets go on sale Friday.

Luckily Rivers and his family are ok (relatively speaking), but according to a statement on Weezer's site, "the rest of the December Raditude Tour has been cancelled". Their full statement and more pictures from the crash, below...

Continue reading "Rivers Cuomo injured in bus crash, December tour dates cancelled, but Weezer playing Bamboozle 2010"

photos by Chris La Putt

Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim, dressed as Andy Warhol and his It Girl Edie Sedgewick, took the stage to Fat Joe shouting "Where Brooklyn At?" over the sinister beat of his hit "Lean Back", while they threw out candy to the crowd before beginning a fun-filled set that included their infectious smash hit "Daylight" and short nods to Europe's "Final Countdown" and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part Two."

As for Weezer, they were dressed in various insect costumes, which vocalist Rivers Cuomo had audience members remove for himself his fellow band members while they continued to play "Undone (The Sweater Song)" early on in the set. The sold out house danced along to all the bouncy music Weezer had to offer (literally bouncy, as the band had a trampoline set up on stage), including hits such as "Perfect Situation", "Island in the Sun", "Surf Wax America", "Buddy Holly", "Pork and Beans", "Dope Nose", and new ones "I Can't Stop Partying", and "I'm Your Daddy." They also played an absolutely awesome cover of MGMT's "Kids", which took a detour to Lady GaGa's massive hit "Poker Face" in the middle. But as usual, it was "My Name is Jonas" that brought the house down.

The biggest surprise of the night, other than the cool cover, was an appearance by Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester. The TV star came out in nude pants splashed with random bursts of color and a 60's style beehive to sing a duet with vocalist Rivers Cuomo on "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To." She sang very well, and later Tweeted that Rivers was "perfection in a bottle." [Examiner]

Weezer maybe had the bug costumes left over from a taping for on an upcoming episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!. More pictures from their Saturday night Halloween show at Hammerstein Ballrooom, including many crowd members in costume, below...

Continue reading "Weezer, Matt & Kim, Leighton Meester & PT Walkley on Halloween @ Hammerstein Ballroom - pics "

"Rx are discussing options w/PJ now. Doesn't look like I'm gonna make it. They're not reinstating any of these flights..." Ted Leo, Aug 21 @ 2:06 PM

Eddie Vedder & The Pharmacists - Aug 21, 2009 in Toronto

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, who just got back from playing some West Coast dates, have scheduled a few new East Coast ones for December. One of those is December 6th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC and tickets just went on AmEx Presale. All currently known dates below.

The West Coast dates were supposed to happen right after Ted left Toronto. In Toronto Ted was scheduled to play in a charity soccer game and (again) open for Pearl Jam. Other celebrities playing the soccer game included Rivers Cuomo and Michael Cera. They actually played, but Ted never made it...

"Ted Leo, famed indie rock musician, was also originally scheduled to be at this event, but apparently he got stopped at border security and couldn't make it (or, in addition, open for Pearl Jam the night before!). Also, Rivers Cuomo was there with his Japanese wife and 2-year-old Japanese daughter!! Exciting, eh?" [Until we Eat Again]

Ted never made it to the Pearl Jam show either, so instead his band The Pharmacists played without him (and, much to the delight of the crowd, with Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready). A Little bit more about that, their setlist, videos from the show, and all Ted Leo dates, below....

Continue reading "Ted Leo tour dates (Bowery) w/ the Pharmacists who backed Eddie Vedder in Toronto when Ted got stuck in NY (video) "

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo releases Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo tomorrow, but the release I am picking up is another side-project, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's score for the film, There Will Be Blood.

The Daniel Johnston tribute disc, The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered has been remastered, and is a must-have for any fan of the singer-songwriter. The double disc release includes one disc of covers as well as a disc of the original songs. The covers:

"My Life is Starting Over Again", Teenage Fanclub with Jad Fair
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances", Clem Snide
"Impossible Love", Gordon Gano
"Living Life", Eels
"Walking the Cow", TV on the Radio
"Good Morning You", The Rabbit
"Sorry Entertainer", Calvin Johnson
"Devil Town", Bright Eyes
"Dream Scream", Death Cab for Cutie
"True Love Will Find You in the End", Beck
"Go", Sparklehorse with The Flaming Lips
"Blue Clouds", Mercury Rev
"Love Not Dead", Thistle LLC
"Like a Monkey in the Zoo", Vic Chesnutt
"Dead Lovers Twisted Heart", Starlight Mints
"Story of an Artist", M. Ward
"The Sun Shines Down on Me", Guster
"King Kong", Tom Waits

Are you picking up any new releases? Have I left any noteworthy albums off the list below?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

We've finished.

Album 6 is getting ready for mixing and I have never been so excited about a project in my life. Weezer fans truly have something to look forward to. The entire band has accomplished some of its most challenging goals as a group and as individuals. It's all coming together on this album.

To sum it up, at the beginning of the recording each member asked himself "what do you want out of this session?" The answer lies ahead.

-Scott Shriner

In related news, Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo will be released on December 11th.