Weezer/Pixies review Molson Amphitheatre 7/9/05

[TimmyB]

I must say I'm glad I did go solo to the Molson Amphitheatre last night.

It was my first time seeing the Pixies and seeing them live I can see how they were such an influence for artists that started out in the early nineties like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I ordered a copy of the show from www.pixiesdiscs.com and I am looking forward to listen to the show again. The Toronto gig will be combined with the Montreal gig as a combo pack.

Some highlights of the show for me included "Bone Machine," "Caribou," "In Heaven," "Wave of Mutilation," "Debaser," "Here Comes Your Man" and "Gigantic" that closed out the show.

There is talk that the Pixies will be going into the studio come the fall so it will be interesting to see how that comes out, especially since it has been said that Frank Black and Kim Deal are getting along so well together now.

My only complaint is that the Pixies perform a far too short headlining set. Their gig only went seventy-three minutes. That was only four minutes more than Weezer.

As for Weezer one song made it all worth while and that song was "El Scorcho."

I had seen Weezer twice before (Arrow Hall '01 and Copps Coliseum at their tenth anniversary show on Valentine's Day '02. The band formed on February 14, 1992.), but since they reformed in 2001 they have probably performed seven or eight concerts in the Toronto area, none of them had "El Scorcho."

I vividly remember at both Weezer gigs that I had previously attended where the crowd would chant "El Scorcho" and the band might tease the intro and then Rivers Cuomo would say the song sucked and that we didn't really want them to play it. They even teased "El Scorcho" again at the beginning of "Undone-The Sweater Song" earlier in their set.

Weezer finally started to perform "El Scorcho" with some regularity again later in 2002 but I don't know if they have played it yet in 2005.

Either way Weezer were great, they are such a fun rock/pop band. Rivers is a great songsmith when it comes to writing catchy songs with great guitar hooks and hilarious lyrics.

Throughout Weezers five albums Weezer have tons of hits with their songs and very few misses. As shown at the Molson Amphitheatre gig where they performed seven of their sixteen songs performed from their latest release "make beleive," with the first single off the album "Beverly Hills" and "We Are All on Drugs" getting some of the biggest cheers from the crowd.

Their set opened with "Say it Ain't So" which had the fans on their feet from the get go. It was great to see the crowd standing through out Weezer and they stayed on their feet for the Pixies as well. Weezer also performed "Undone-The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly" from their debut 'blue' album.

From their comeback 'green' album they played "Photograph," "Island In the Sun" and closed their set with "Hash Pipe."

Interestingly enough they performed material from each of their albums except for 'maladroit.' Either way Weezer fans had their hands in the air making that Weezer sign all night, which reminds me of how people made the Paul McCartney and Wings hand sign, though Weezer's is a bit different.

It was also the first time I saw Rivers take a break from lead vocals giving rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Brian Bell lead vocals on 'Pinkerton' track "Getchoo."

I have to say that I enjoy it more when Weezer is performing at night time, as they have a great light show. Especially with the big "W" lit up behind the band. At a recent visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I saw that one of their "W's" was up in the front entrance to the Hall of Fame. Though the Pixies light show was also quite good, very atmospheric.

The Fray opened for both bands. They are pop band from Colorado, that have a song "Over My Head (Cable Car)" that is on the soundtrack of the Jamie Foxx action film 'Stealth." The also perform three other songs from their upcoming debut full length album coming out in the fall.

Weezer set

The Molson Amphitheatre

Saturday July 9, 2005.

Start time 7:43PM

1. Say It Ain't So

2. Photograph

3. Undone-The Sweater Song

4. Peace

5. This Is Such A Pity

6. Getchoo

7. El Scorcho

8. Hold Me

9. Perfect Situation

10. Instrumental

11. Island in the Sun

12. We Are All on Drugs

13. Beverly Hills

14. Buddy Holly

Encore

15. Haunt You Every Day

16. Hash Pipe

End time 8:52PM (Total time 1 hour and 9 minutes)

Edited July 10, 2005 by Guest

[Jaimoe]

I love Joey Santiago's guitar fills and solos. He adds sonic texture to all their songs and is almost an unsung hero, at least in the world of guitar worship.

Having a short set isn't surprising, but I think The Pixies are in line with the punk concert attitude where less is more, yet pack as many quality songs in the time period as possible.

[Jaimoe]

Too bad Weezer played their new single Beverly Hills. It's basically an embarrassing re-write of the their classic Undone ( The Sweater Song ).

[TimmyB]

I love Joey Santiago's guitar fills and solos. He adds sonic texture to all their songs and is almost an unsung hero, at least in the world of guitar worship.

Having a short set isn't surprising, but I think The Pixies are in line with the punk concert attitude where less is more, yet pack as many quality songs in the time period as possible.

Joey Santiago was amazing! To me he sounds a lot like Neil Young and he even plays the same time of Black Les Paul with the Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece on it as well.

I also will agree with you there when it comes to the Pixies packing the songs in as they did perform 26 songs in that time frame. The Pixies don't leave much time between songs either, they go from one to the other quite quickly.

As for Weezer performing "Beverly Hills" you can't be surprised by that, it is their first single off the album. I can give or take the song personally, though it doesn't offend me as it does you.

The night was completely worth the price of admission for me when they played "El Scorcho" so the rest was gravy.

[AD]

It was also the first time I saw Rivers take a break from lead vocals giving rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Matt Sharp lead vocals on 'Pinkerton' track "Getchoo."

Coulda sworn Matt Sharp left Weezer years ago, but maybe he is back? I haven't followed the Weezer stories since Pinkerton.

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[TimmyB]

It was also the first time I saw Rivers take a break from lead vocals giving rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Matt Sharp lead vocals on 'Pinkerton' track "Getchoo."

Coulda sworn Matt Sharp left Weezer years ago' date=' but maybe he is back? I haven't followed the Weezer stories since Pinkerton.

AD[/quote']

Thanks AD,

You're right Matt left years ago I meant to say Pat Wilson. I'll edit the original post.

[Jaimoe]

I didn't surprise me that Weezer played Beverly Hills. What is surprising is that Weezer ripped themselves off by transparently re-writing a previous alt-rock hit into a banal piece of Top 40-wannabe crap.

If you are going to re-write a hit from your back catalogue ala Jack Johnson, at least don't make said song into your lead-off single.

I don't really hear the Neil Young influence in Joey's playing. He uses screaming lead fills ala New York City punk circa 1976.

[AD]

Good review Tim, loved the one and only Pixies show I've seen. Only seen Weezer once, earlier this year and was totally unimpressed. But people I was with thought it was great. So that's cool.

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[AD]

Heheh, hey Tim, I hate to be a bother again... Brian Bell is the guitarist you're thinking of. According to all music guide Pat Wilson is the drummer.

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[TimmyB]

Heheh, hey Tim, I hate to be a bother again... Brian Bell is the guitarist you're thinking of. According to all music guide Pat Wilson is the drummer.

AD

Damn, you're right again. I only ever really knew Rivers name in the band. But after today I won't forget the rest of them.

[zero]

Caribou, Debaser and Wave of Mutilation would be gems to see live, I imagine most shows include them. Pixies heads seem to revere those three particularly Caribou. Myself, maybe it's a bit trite, I'd go off for Where Is My Mind?- did you hear it?

[TimmyB]

Caribou, Debaser and Wave of Mutilation would be gems to see live, I imagine most shows include them. Pixies heads seem to revere those three particularly Caribou. Myself, maybe it's a bit trite, I'd go off for Where Is My Mind?- did you hear it?

The songs I mentioned I wrote off in the order I saw them live, not my favorite to least favorite.

Now that you mentionit they did perform "Where is My Mind" as the last song before the encore. It too was one of the better songs of the night.

[Turd Ferguson]

What the hell are you people talking about?

[TimmyB]

What the hell are you people talking about?

I thought it was abundantly clear that we were talking about the Pixies and Weezer?

[Blane]

I saw the pixies last year and it was awesome. They really need to expand their setlist a bit as fans will eventually tire of the "greatest hits", but for a one-off show, seeing the hits was just an amazing experience.