Yeah Right

File Under: Awesome

If you missed in on Colbert earlier this week, you must watch this Spike Jonze directed performance from Karen O and Danger Mouse. I am amp'd for this album:

Concert Reviews: Weezer Edition

When the stellar Pixies/Weezer summer 2018 tour announced new dates for 2019, I was ecstatic. I hit three legs of the summer tour and it was great. The 2019 version is even better (in terms of Weezer’s performance – the opener is worse and the Pixies are the same).

First up, I went to NYC to see the tour at Madison Square Garden. This stop had an extra guest, TV on the Radio (one of their members produced the new Weezer album) who were fantastic. I skipped the first openers Basement, since I was still at the fan club pre-show happy hour. TV on the Radio crushed – up-tempo, happy, funky vibes. I never got super into them, but I would gladly see them again after seeing their live show. If they were that good as an opener, I bet they deliver a killer headlining set. The addition of them to the lineup meant that everyone else gave up a few songs from their setlist, but that didn’t bother me. At the Baltimore show later that week I did catch Basement’s set. They were okay and I don’t regret skipping them at MSG. It was high energy but fairly forgettable. A solid “okay.”

Pixies got a shorter set at MSG (16 songs to 23 songs in Baltimore). They switch their setlist up a lot night to night, so I got a nice variety between the two shows. MSG had “Caribou” and “Hey” whereas Baltimore had additions of “Wave of Mutilation” “Blown Away” “Ed is Dead” “Head on” and several others. The crowd in Baltimore took a while to get into them, so it was weird to sit for the first half of their set. By the time they got to “Classic Masher” thankfully everyone stood up for the remainder of the set. If they were the headliner I would have stood up the whole time and not cared it people were pissed, but I’m weary of being that dude for an opener. They played all the classics sans “Debaser” (surprisingly) both nights, just in a different order (other than ending both shows with “Vamos”). If Pixies wanted to tour with Weezer forever, I would be totally fine with that. I’ve loved their run on this tour.

Weezer (thank God) are finally changing up their setlist night to night. Not as much as the Pixies, but I’ll take baby steps when I can get them. It’s unclear if this is finally due to the setlist-generating algorithm that Rivers has been talking about writing for a year or if they are doing it manually. Either way, it’s great. The only nit to pick is that the set has a lot of covers for a band with a huge catalog. Those covers are taking up space of solid Weezer songs. I’m hoping this is just an anomaly due to the popularity of the Teal Album that will wain over time. Still, the covers are fun, so it’s not that big a deal.

The opening (barber shop version of “Buddy Holly” into full band “My Name is Jonas”), set end (“Hash Pipe”), and encore end (“Say It Ain’t So”) of the sets were the same each night, but there was a lot of variability mixed in with the other songs. Some songs I had the pleasure of hearing in different styles. Each night Rivers goes out into the crowd to play two solo acoustic songs. At MSG that entailed “Island in the Sun” and the live debut of “No Scrubs.” They played both of those songs full-band in Baltimore, which Rivers did “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” (previously played full band at MSG) and “Stand By Me” for his solo set. Each night, while Rivers is making his way back to the stage the rest of the band delivered an excellent rendition of “Up the Beach” by Jane’s Addiction.

We also got different Black Album songs at each show – “Can’t Knock the Hustle” at MSG and my preferred “Living in LA” in Baltimore (though I still want to hear the best Black Album song, “High as a Kite” live). They played many more songs off of the new Teal Album. Last summer, Rivers did “Take on Me” each night during his acoustic mini-set. This time around they are playing in full band and the guitars f-ing rip. Much better than Aha’s version. In Baltimore I was also thrilled to get the full version of “Paranoid,” which they only covered in snippets during the summer tour. Brian Bell could legit be the singer in a Black Sabbath tribute band. It sounds awesome. “Thank God for Girls” was added for the Baltimore show, and mostly it just makes me sad that the worst song from the White Album is probably the only one I’m going to hear intermittingly at future shows. Give me “King of World” or, well, any other song on the album over that, please. Pinkerton-era wise we got “El Scorcho” at both shows and “The Good Life” in Baltimore and “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” at MSG.

Setlist aside, this tour is the best Weezer have ever sounded live. Go see the tour, friends. They are firing on all cylinders at the moment.

Concert Review: CHAI

I gotta say, the booking agent at Union Stage is killing it this year. My 2019 schedule is packed with shows at the newish Wharf venue. Much better than the acts they’ve been able to draw to their sister venue Jammin’ Java. I first saw CHAI on a whim at SXSW a few years ago. I had heard reviews of the “Japan Nite” showcase on NPR for previous SXSWs, so it was top of my list of things to check out while I was there. It was an eclectic mix of acts – everything from “the new Mariah Carey of Japan” (yes that is something that someone actually wrote on a flyer, and no she did not sound like Mariah Carey) to a classic rock act. But the highlight of that day, which was probably my favorite thing of the whole festival, was CHAI. They were just...the happiest thing I’ve ever seen. I had no idea what their songs were about (singing in Japanese), but they wore matching pink velour hospital gowns and sang some happy pop-rock music and it was so joyous. So when I saw they were coming to DC, I jumped right on that train and convinced anyone who would listen to me that they should come with.

The whole line-up was pretty swell. Den-Mate opened the show. This was billed as “dark pop” but unless the lyrics were morbid (it was hard to hear them clearly) it was just pop with a lot of guitars. The singer had a Gaga-esque outfit and had good stage presence. Toward the end of the set her band disappeared one by one each song until it was just her left with a drum machine – at that point it was mediocre, but when the whole band was going I was into the guitars.

The next band, Haiku Hands, was potentially even more fun that CHAI (which says a lot). They were a trio from Australia who rapped, sang, were there to start a f-ing party, and generally didn’t seem to take themselves seriously. It was easily the most fun I’ve had at a show all year. They wore a lot of masks, probably two too many masks if I wanted to pick nits, but their enthusiasm was so contagious that I’ll forgive them that. One of the three seemed to try much harder than the other two…I think she is the person in charge of the crafts for the band.

CHAI was killer. They played a lot of songs off of their new album Punk, which I’ve been streaming over at NPR while I wait for my CD to arrive (yes, I still order CDs). Still in matching pink outfits, they rocked through a tremendously fun set, including a cover of “Dancing Queen” in Japanese and had endearing stage banter in English. Go see CHAI and be happy, people. It’s impossible to not be happy when you see them.

Download These Songs Now (And Thank Me Later)

Swearin’ – “Grow Into a Ghost”

Fragile Rock – “Smile More”

The Mountain Goats – “Cadaver Sniffing Dogs”

Control Top – “Chain Reaction”

Partner – “Long and McQuade”

Wut

This story (and other coverage) is focused on what Lady Gaga did in this situation. But we are burying the lede, folks. Fred Durst hosts a weekly jazz show? Fred Durst...of Limp Bizkit...hosts a weekly jazz show?!?

Weezer Stats

I got bored recently and made a spreadsheet of all the Weezer shows (27 full band, 1 Rivers Solo) I’ve been to and crunched some numbers (excluded were the 8 side project shows I’ve seen). Ride or die:

• I’ve heard Weezer perform 103 different songs live, 17 of which were covers (7 of which are from their covers album, The Teal Album).
• 48 of those songs I’ve only heard once.
• The worst song I’ve heard is easy to pick: “I’m Your Daddy” (thankfully, this is one of the songs I’ve only heard once).
• I have never heard my favorite Weezer song live (“I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams”). They’ve played in on both Weezer cruises, but I was assigned to a different theater show onboard. At least I’ve gotten to hear 15 other b-sides.
• I have heard my 2^nd favorite Weezer song (“Only in Dreams”) five times. It is shocking to me that they do not play this more, considering how often they play other non-single tracks from The Blue Album.
• I have heard my favorite Weezer single (“The Good Life”) 14 times. That’s better.
• Before I crunched the numbers, I figured that I had probably heard “Beverly Hills” and “Island in the Sun” the most times. If I never heard either song again, that would be fine. Especially BH. Turns out “Buddy Holly” came in #1 on a bit of a technicality: on the current leg of the Pixies tour, Weezer is playing “Buddy Holly” twice each night – as a barbershop quartet and the regular version. Had they only played it once per night, BH would have come in #2. The full top ten: 1) “Buddy Holly” (27), 2) “Island in the Sun” (26), 3) Tie: “Hash Pipe” and “Say It Ain’t So” (24), 5) “Undone” (23), 6) “My Name is Jonas” (22), 7) Tie: “Pork and Beans” and “Beverly Hills” (21), 9) “Perfect Situation” (20), 10) Tie: “El Scorcho” and “If You’re Wondering If I Want You to (I Want You to)” (18).
• I’ve heard all the songs from three Weezer albums: Blue, Pinkerton, and Everything Will Be Alright in the End. Otherwise I’ve heard songs off of every Weezer album (studio or not - even Christmas with Weezer) other than Death to False Metal.

Download These Songs Now (And Thank Me Later)

In the Valley Below – “Rise”

Jenny Lewis – “Heads Gonna Roll”

Lady Lamb – “Deep Love”

The Black Keys – “Lo/Hi”

Stephen Malkmus – “Come Get Me”

Concert Reviews

Weezer at the Black Cat – The week that the new Black Album came out, Weezer played two private radio-sponsored shows: a Sirius Alt Nation show at the Black Cat in DC and an iHeart Radio show in NYC. After failing to win tickets through all of the available channels, thankfully the band’s team (thank you, Karl Koch!) came through and got 20 fan clubbers on the band’s guest list, myself included. I’ve obviously never seen Weezer at a venue as small as the Black Cat. Even the intimate sows on the Weezer cruises had higher capacities. So that was awesome. We were able to get pretty close on #scottside. No opener, just a quick introduction from someone at Sirius. Thank goodness that the Sirius show as in DC and not iHeart Radio, because the band clearly adjusted their setlists to the different audience. The NYC show the next day got more pop-rock Weezer singles (“Beverly Hills” etc.) and we got b-sides from the Blue Album and Pinkerton. Hallelujah!

They kicked things off with my favorite Weezer single “The Good Life” then went into “Susanne” and “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly.” At this point it was like I died and went to heaven. Never, not even on a Weezer cruise, have I seen them start a show with Pinkerton, Blue Album b-side, Pinkerton b-side. Hot damn. Seeing the setlist after the show, they were supposed to play “High as a Kite” third (the best song off their new album by a wide margin) but apparently there were technical difficulties with one of the instruments they needed for that song. The two tracks from the new album that we got later in the set were “Living in LA” and “Can’t Knock the Hustle.” I saw the live debut of CKTH in December and this was similar. “Living in LA” was much, much, much better live than on the album. The loud crunchy guitars really elevate it live. We also got a Teal Album song and Praise Weezus it was not “Africa!” We got “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” instead. “El Scorcho,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “Island in the Sun” (first time they’ve played it full electric in a long time, and “Buddy Holly” (Barbershop version) rounded out the short set. I was (correctly) worried that it would be a short set because it was a radio station gig, but at least the setlist was outstanding. And it was free. Dilly dilly.

The Beths at Union Stage – This was a great lineup start to finish. DC’s Bad Moves opened the show and Bad Bad Hats co-headlined. The BBH singer’s banter is hilarious. Usually people who talk too much in between songs annoy me, but I just  want her to keep going. The Beths’ stage presence was improved from their fall show at Songbyrd, though they were still endearingly awkward (especially when they pause to introduce themselves). Plus any chance to hear the songs on Future Me Hates Me is a delight.

Cowboy Mouth at Hill Country BBQ – I snagged a friend’s extra ticket to this, having never seen Cowboy Mouth and enough people have raved about them over the years. It was a lot of fun and was appropriately timed on Fat Tuesday (they are from New Orleans), but I’m not convinced Cowboy Mouth is actually a good band that I would  like sober. But considering that, this was the ideal venue and time to see them in. If nothing else, they are an awesome party band. The drummer is the lead singer (did not expect that) and he slowly chants “the name of the band is…” and the crowd yells "COWBOY MOUTH!" at lot during the set. I was drunk enough to get into that, especially considering I did not know any song other than “Jenny Says.”

File Under: Awesome

Veers delivers two (one and two) solid Buzzsession performances. 

Cool Cover Alert

Eddie Vedder takes on A Star Is Born