Karl's Corner - 02/01/2005

...Okay, first things first! Happy Birthday To Pat Wilson! Wish the big drummin' baby's daddy good things here on the message board.
...awwwww...(click to enlarge)
...Now, to business! Things are starting to solidify in the weezer world. First and foremost, the first weezer show since 2002 has been confirmed as of today! (not 2 days ago despite some 'jumping the gun' that went on) Yes, Weezer will indeed be playing on the first night of the 6th annual Coachella Festival, taking place out in the dusty desert in Indio, California on Saturday, April 30th. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, Feb. 5th - purchasing info here. (Note that weezer is NOT playing the second night, 5/1.) 
Many many questions have been pouring in for the last few weeks about tourdates. The Coachella date is the only show that is official at this time. But more touring is indeed in the planning stages, for both the USA and overseas. We should have some more definite info within several weeks time. Remember, when in doubt: If you havent seen it confirmed here on weezer.com, then it has NOT truly been confirmed, regardless of what you may have seen on other sites or heard on the radio!
...As for the here and now: Rivers has in fact completed his semester of school and returned to Los Angeles late in January. The album 5 tracklist (that is, whats included, not the exact order) for album 5 has been 97% settled after some heavy listening sessions between the band and producer/mentor Rick Rubin. A few songs got swapped out and switched around, and there is high confidence in the final selection, which now includes a few songs from the late '03 recording sessions that were originally left behind in favor of the new sessions in July-October '04. Currently Rivers is working on finishing up his vocals on 3 songs, and then the stuff should be 99% ready for mixing. Meanwhile the artwork is underway, with the art director assembling cd art that may include exclusive photo selections from the recording sessions, fresh unseen imagery, and/or new photography taken expressly for the album art. More when its known.
...as for the single and album release dates: So far we only know that the first single "Beverly Hills" SHOULD be going to radio in late March (exact date unconfirmed as yet), while the 5th album (title TBA) SHOULD be out sometime in May. (everything still subject to change)
...website stuff: The plans are underfoot for a major server change for weezer.com, as well as a basic redesign that will take advantage of updated webmaster tools. Unfortunately these 2 things have to happen at the same time, so there may be some periods between now and June where things look a little weird around here! (think: Franken-site) However, the commitment to (bucketloads of) CONTENT will remain always, with all the history, pix, info and a-v stuff staying with us regardless of how the appearance will change. While there may be temporary periods where a certain page is unavailable, EVERYTHING you now enjoy will remain as part of the completed, revamped site.
...with one important exception! Heres the advance warning you didn't get back in '01 when things didnt exactly go as planned: The weezer.com message boards will have to start over on the new site, as we are upgrading to a whole new system. I have done everything I can, but it turns out the only way to move forward is to start over with a fresh board. Ive looked into migrating the old threads to the new board, but it is apparently impossible. So know now - while the current boards should continue as is for a while, by sometime between March and May the current boards will be REPLACED with a fresh new board, at which time you will have to re-register from scratch and dive in fresh. Now, this new board is about 50 times more stable and useful than the current one, so it will definitely be a nice place to hang out. But if you have favorite threads or special memories on the current board, SAVE/archive/backup the stuff you need! You have at least 6 weeks from now to do what you may need to do, so PLEASE remember. There will be 'sticky' notices on the boards from Ridd when we have more info.
...meanwhile, around the world, we are reminded that weezer fans are EVERYWHERE, including serving bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan! Spc. Joel Strasser is serving in Iraq in these historic and dangerous times, and is keeping the spirit of the =w= alive! 
...Joel with some familiar graffiti...awesome camel photo...(click to enlarge)
Joel writes: 
...Well I just got back from watching over an Iraqi police station during the elections and we had a ball. We stayed up on the roof of the building waiting for an attack but luckily one didn't come. We heard lots of gunshots and explosions throughout the city but nothing where we were, they must have known not to mess with us. It was a really neat experience to participate in this election and help these people gain their freedom.
Anyways, I'm hoping that the touring [spills] over into '06. [Joel wont be back in the States till then] I'll probably go to a concert no matter where they are in the US...
Seeya, Spc. Joel Strasser
Category:Karl's Corner - February 2005