red lights

Weezer Breathes New Life in K.C.

Weezer / Tenacious D / Jimmy Eat World
Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, MO
Nov. 30, 2001
Weezer
River lets the chords flow.

Review and Photos by Jason Squires

Flocks of nerds gathered to beat the cold while waiting in line to enter the building. No, they were not waiting to present their science fair projects, they were anxiously awaiting the doors of the Weezer concert to open. Amongst the Buddy Holly glasses and polyester pants there were also many handmade shirts, which simply displayed the =w= symbol, the official Weezer logo. Tenacious D There was no doubt about it, they were here to see Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo -supreme leader of their subculture. Many seemed to ignore the fact that they'd have to sit through two other acts before catching a glimpse into Weezers' world.Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World came and went and the crowd barely seemed to notice. They had a good sound, yet the feeling of Weezer love on the floor and throughout the arena was perhaps too much to overcome. The band seemed to be having fun, unfortunately they were the only ones to notice.
As the smoke slowly introduced the second act, the two slightly round figures of Tenacious D slowly emerged. Once The D started singing, the crowd suddenly became more energetic - as if the old crowd had been replaced by one more capable of making noise. Jack and Kyle had an incredible stage presence and this Weezer audience seemed to embrace them. Their simple two guitar/two person setup was a nice departure from their full band studio album. Tenacious D rounded out this sold out arena with their explicit melodies very well.
A lone =w= was hanging as a backdrop as Weezer took the stage - with new bassist in tow. They opened their set with "The Dawn," a short and energetic little pop tune. Later in the show the entire crowd went wild as Rivers yelled, "What's my name?" And, almost in unison, the crowd chanted back, "Jonas!" He blasted the opening chords of "My Name is Jonas" as the rabid audience crushed forward into a sardine can hoping to be opened and devoured by their hero. Talking as if he'd known these kids forever, Rivers told the crowd that he'd just gotten a new guitar and he wanted to "try it on this next song." Upon finishing, he added, "Yeah, that sounded nice."
Weezer pounded out their special brand of pop/punk anchored deeply in Coumo's intelligent and funny lyrics like a Marine's' machine gun spraying Bin Laden's cave.
Weezer showed us all that they are just normal guys that have perfected the 50's rock sound with just a touch of punk. Mr. Holly would be proud.


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