Karl's Corner - 10/28/2005

...MB '05 Tour: Day 131: Foozer/Wee Fighters #25: Oakland Arena - Oakland, CA
Last day of the Foozer tour!?! Sad but true, but there were some mad wacky hijinks tonight to make up for it in spades. The Oakland Arena was pretty packed with nearly 13,000 attendees, making it one of the best attended shows of the whole Foozer tour. So it was the perfect stage to send off what has been just about the most fun and exciting tour in weezer's career to date, thanks to the greatness that is the whole Foo organization. Dave Grohl made it a point in his talking to the crowd that this was also the best Foo Fighters tour "in a long long long time", and that touring with weezer has been the best. Feel the love, people!
Now, being the last show of the tour, it is sort of an old tradition (though not required) that bands pull pranks on each other, in an attempt to throw the other band off during their set, and in general cause as much mayhem as possible. Weezer knew going into this that the Foos do not mess around when it comes to mayhem, and they knew they were outclassed big time. It was really just a matter of bracing for the inevitable, and they got a bucketful! It started when Rivers was doing the acoustic solo 'Island In The Sun' thing, and an exotic dancer lady crept up and started shaking her stuff right behind him for the rest of the song, prompting Rivers to croak "save me!" at one point. Then came phase 2 of the Foo Master Prank Plan (F.M.P.P.): Dave Grohl stormed the stage as the "volunteer" for Undone, claiming to be local boy "Billy Bob" and pretending to just be learning the song. Of course Dave shortly emerged as an Undone expert, shredding along with the guys and then sacrificing the Washburn to the guitar gods with a manly smash up at the songs climax.
But it wasnt over there! 2 songs later, during 'Buddy Holly', a 6 man squad of exotic MALE dancers stormed the stage doing a nearly complete stripshow by the songs end. Thes guys were keeping it real. Real oiled. They even had 'weezer' spelled out across their chests. Only weezer's strong dedication to craft (and not inconsiderable levels of embarrassment) kept them focused on performing the song to the end! It was one of the better tour pranks in the opinions of many crew guys, and it was by far the best one ever played on weezer. The Foo's pranked weezer right out of the ballpark, to the extent that Weezer didnt have anything even remotely good enough to respond with. As Dave said later "I ain't worried". And he shouldn't have been. After you slam dunk like that, you dont have much to worry about!
After the Foo set, it was time to say goodbye, and it was a sad day. Even though everyone is a little road weary, it was generally agreed that it would have been awesome to have done more like 40 shows instead of the 25 we did. Crews and bands alike were sorry to part company, especially after everything went so much smoother than anyone anticipated.
Big ups to (the other) Neil Young, (the real) Rick Rubin, Eric L. and Cindy Mah, in the hizzouse tonight!
Large size picture link: , more: .
The (updated 10/25/05).
(Note: are bootlegs - do not buy them if you see them! *updated 10/15*)
...There is a new interview with Rivers online now, from AOL.com. This interview was conducted with AOL IM, and the transcript is here.
....A new Yahoo! news story about Rivers' springtime plans and more is here.
...The "We Are All On Drugs" video has climbed to #10 this week on the MuchMusic Countdown this week.
...The new single from "Make Believe" is "Perfect Situation", and its out now. Call your local station and request it! Let's push this great song to the heights it deserves! The video for this song was shot last week in LA and is now in the editing room. It should be out soon. More info when we have it.
Headlining shows coming up now! Folks, these 2 shows will be the last US weezer shows for what looks to be a looong time - make the trip if you can! Freakout in Fresno!
10/29 - Fresno, CA - Selland Arena - on sale now!
10/30 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock - on sale now!
...Weezer on AOL Sessions (taping) on Wednesday 11/01 - air date TBA (schedule change)
...A full account of Weezer's 10/17 visit to The Howard Stern show (incl. pix!) is here.
...December Japan Tour Dates (try for tickets here, good luck with the language gap)
December 15, 2005 Osaka - Zepp
December 16, 2005 Osaka - Zepp
December 17, 2005 Fukuoka - Zepp
December 19, 2005 Nagoya - Zepp
December 20, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast
December 21, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast
December 22, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast
NEW: These pictures were not part of the original post. They were provided exclusively for Weezerpedia by Karl Koch.
[click on any photo for a larger size version]
Category:Karl's Corner - October 2005
2005/10/28