Karl's Corner - 07/25/2002

Enlightenment Tour Day 20: New York City: TV appearence
The Late Show With Dave Letterman: 
Well, today we headed over to the old CBS/Ed Sullivan Theater, wherein on its much smaller than it looks on tv soundstage such greats as the Beatles played over 35 years ago. Things are a bit different now with Dave having taken over some years back. One things for sure: nobody does it colder! To combat the high temperatures of the lights, most tv shows have a somewhat chilled soundstage, but Dave REALLY likes it cold. Ive heard rumors that the stage thermostat is set to 48 degrees, and I totally beleive it.
Anyway, we came, saw the fans hanging by the back entrance, said hello as we were sent upstairs to settle in. Shortly thereafter, everyone was called back downstairs for rehearsal. At first Rivers's mic was shocking him, so they switched him over to wireless guitar to break the bad ground loop. That risked picking up local radio stations, but it was all good, and they did their run throughs with no more shocked lips. At 4:30 the show started the actual taping, and we watched on tv monitors in the dressing rooms as Amy Sedaris and Chas Palminteri did their things, and they did the Top 10 list out of sequence- it would be moved earlier in the actual broadcast. At one point Dave and Paul Schaefer did some wack jokes about weezer once being called 'tweezer', but they were edited out for the actual show. I think this is why Amy Sedaris seemed confused and called them 'Tweezer' before she did her cackling John Denver cover.
The Letterman crew have total control over things there, and they do insist on doing things their way. This likely accounts for the slightly odd mix heard on the broadcast. In person they sounded normal, but on TV it seemed hard to hear Scotts singing and Rivers's guitar. But these type of things happen all the time on tv performances. Anyway, after 3 minutes of playing, all the waiting was over and off we went. Good work! And kudos to the weez crew, who did it all on no sleep, as they had to get there at 6 AM after a long load out last night at the Jones Beach show. Some fans were at the taping and wrote in below... 
...top rows: cold rehearsal = vest sharing...bottom row: I love NY!... 
...some eyewitness Letterman Show fans' reports...
*"...I was there and I enjoyed myself. Even though the guys only played one song it was still well worth the sprinting I did to get to the box office to claim my tickets(23 blocks in 7 minutes!). I said hello to you but i froze up and just said "Hey I'm Balupo from the boards". The Weezer fans that were in the studio with us stuck together and we all nodded when =W= was mentioned. All in all it was a different type of vibe seeing the weez on a show compared to a concert but anytime seeing weezer is a good time." ---Bill
*"...i was at the letterman taping of weezer and you are 100% about the frigid atmosphere. it was freezing in there! anyway, we sat in the balcony (second row) and waited patiently for weezer to come out. when they finally did, rivers looked as if he was having a lot of trouble with his pedals and mic. regardless, they rocked hard and everyone in the audience was dancing in their seats. They did a great job with Keep Fishin' and left the stage abruptly after getting a plug for maladroit." ---Brian Z.
*"...Heya guys. I just wanted to tell you I was at the show to see you guys. Having never seen you before live, I must say it was an awesome sight to see you all perform...even if we had to put up with Dave's sometimes lame jokes and Ami Sedaris attempting to sing John Denver (but instead sounding like a yak in heat). My younger brother (doorman36 on the Weezer boards) tried to get in with me, but seeing how he's not of age, he wasn't allowed in (he's 100 times the Weezer fan I am and it pissed the hell out of him that I was going and not him...oh well, life sucks like that). Anyway, fantastic job on the show, and best of luck on the tour!" ---Matt
*"...I got tickets to the Letterman show from a family friend, and flew all the way down to New York when I heard that Weezer was performing... even if they only did one song. Keep fishing was awesome! alot of other =W= fans and I were there, giving our support to the group. I was really excited considering this was the first time I've actually seen them perform live and in person. I've always wanted to, but they don't come to Portland very often. EXCELLENT JOB!" ---Emily
*"...I got there at around 1pm, met some other weezer-ites, and chilled. About an hour later Scott, Pat, and you, Karl, arrived. The three girls I met there went kinda nuts and Pat scurried in after fiving a few palms(one of which was mine). After about half an hour Scott comes out for a cigarette and people start going up to him. Two of the girls were too shy to go up to him and ask for a picture and autograph so I volunteered to go with them. Much to my suprise Scott remembered me from the night before. So, the girls got their stuff autographed and I took a picture for them and they left. Me? I had a cigarette with the hardcoriest bassist ever to walk this earth, I did. About 90 minutes later Pat and you (Karl) came out again and umm...Pat well, he barely escaped the fan-age. (Pat looked like he was jut plain scared of the fans that day) Then Scott came out again, and he was mauled by fans...again. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, so I ditched the fan scene and went to the Virgin Megastore to buy a goth CD. Hanging out with =w= was fun, actually. A good time had by all." ---Gaia Immaculata 
Keep Fishin' report: 
*video:
...Meanwhile, a few blocks away in the Times Square Mtv studios, "Keep Fishin'" got its inaugural appearence on That Nutty Carson's "trl" show. Only, Mr. Carson wasnt there, and the VJs filling his shoes seemed to think the song was called "Gone Fishin'". ...Er, ok. A n y w a y, it debuted on a segment called "TRL wannabe", signifying that if it gets enough votes, it will move up into the countdown. So... Those who would vote, please do!
...and in more NYC news: "Keep Fishin'" was on 92.3 K-Rocks Furious Five at Nine, in at #5 (5th most requested song of the day!) 
Category:Karl's Corner - July 2002