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

words & photos by Kurt Christensen

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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…

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AWOLNation

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Rival Schools

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Weezer…

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Weezer setlist
Intro
Hash Pipe
Troublemaker
Undone (The Sweater Song)
Surf Wax America
Trippin’ Down the Freeway
Perfect Situation
Dope Nose
Say It Ain’t So
Island in the Sun
Brian’s Theme
Can’t Stop Partying
El Scorcho
My Name is Jonas
Beverly Hills

Encore 1:
Hot for Teacher
Pork and Beans
Kids (MGMT cover)
Poker Face (Lady Gaga cover)

Encore 2
(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
Buddy Holly