Weezer made their pit stop in Austin on their ‘Indie Rock Road Trip’ tour, stopping at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater with Modest Mouse and Momma on Thursday, June 8th.
Momma hit the stage first and under the Texas sun, and they were the perfect choice to warm up the crowd. Leading with their angsty “Medicine”, they had the crowd bobbing their heads, feeling as if we were all in a garage jam session. By the time they ended with “Speeding 72”, the crowd was swaying and totally entranced in their energy, wanting more to keep the energy going. These newcomers to the indie season are one to watch out for, soon they’ll be headlining shows.
Modest Mouse were the next and led with their hit “Doin the Cockroach”, which sent shockwaves across the crowd. The raw energy of the band was seen when guitarist Simon O’Connor’s sunglasses flew off his face from intensely playing. They proceeded to play hit after hit. Playing “Dramamine”, “We Are Between”, “Dashboard”, “Ocean Breathes Salty”, and “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” back to back is the stuff indie listeners dream of. When “Float On” started, the audience immediately began screaming once they heard the first guitar rift; if there was anyone sitting beforehand, everyone was on their feet dancing along. Closing out their set with “Fuck your Acid Trip” and the crowd was wanting more; they were all cheering for an encore that was unrequited. In a normal setting, this would have been the end of the night but like an infomercial, just wait there’s more.
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The stage transformed into a giant car dashboard, with an audio recording of someone flipping through radio stations while driving. Weezer made their grand appearance and as the audio of flipping through radio stations ended, they opened with “My Name is Jonas”, as if the driver decided to listen to Weezer on their road trip, and the crowd went wild. By far, one of the coolest visual experiences by an artist for an opening number.
Weezer then went right into “Beverly Hills” with the car windshield showing a cartoon version of driving down Beverly Hills. Singer Rivers Cuomo ended the hit with saying, “Living in Austin, Texas”, which made the crowd cheer on a level that hadn’t been heard all night. Next on their set was “The Good Life”, and the rear view mirror of the car dashboard started to show panned shots of the crowd, such incredible attention to detail.
Cuomo then started talking to the audience, saying that “We need to turn the energy up,” and then proceeded to the car dashboard and turned the volume knob all the way up before playing “Pork and Beans”. They followed with “Pink Triangle” and “El Scorcho” off their Pinkerton album (QRO deluxe edition review), Momma coming out to sing backup vocals on “El Scorcho”. Momma then proceeded to cover “I Just Threw Out the Love of my Dreams” with Cuomo playing guitar with them.
One of the coolest musical moments of the night was when all of Weezer gathered around one mic in the center stage to sing the acoustic version of “Susanne”, reminiscent of their early days. Keeping with their acoustic atmosphere they started playing “Only in Dreams” before transitioning to a full on metal version halfway through the song. As the song was ending, a giant inflatable sun dropped from the ceiling and all of Weezer put on sunglasses. To no one’s surprise “Island in the Sun”, the forever summer anthem, started playing with the crowd seeing along the entire time.
Afterwards, Cuomo brought out a Polaroid camera and said, “You know it isn’t a real road trip until dad takes a family photo,” then proceeded to take a picture of the crowd; rest assured he shook it like a Polaroid picture. Weezer then started to close out their set with “Say It Ain’t So”, “Hash Pipe”, and “Thank you and Good Night” with a giant lit up “W” dropping from the ceiling to cement and remind everyone that they’re indie legends.
The roar of the crowd demanding an encore went on for a few minutes before Weezer made their appearance again. The car dashboard was having us drive to the beach and showing vintage surfers, the perfect visuals for “Surf Wax America”. The final piece played was “Buddy Holly”, the ultimate Weezer song. The quirkiness of the number translated to the crowd singing and dancing along for the entirety and the car dashboard made a transition to showing a “Greetings from Texas sign” and that it had Texas plates, a great nod to their road trip reference. Anyone in attendance will be listing this in their Top Ten concerts; bravo Momma, Modest Mouse, and Weezer.