Karl's Corner - 07/14/2002

Enlightenment Tour Day 9: Toronto, ONT; Molson Amphitheater
Main Stage: The Weekend, Dashboard Confessional, Weezer
Second Stage: Loudermilk, Home Town Hero, Am Radio 
Toronto, the site of so many cold shows in the past, cane through with a perfect summer evening this time, and The Molson, already a nice place to go see a show, was used to its fullest advantage by 10,000+ peeps. This ampitheater is kinda cool in that they keep a front section of the floor open as a "GA" area, while all the surrounding seats are situated for maximun good views of the stage. Thumbs up.
Sparta couldnt make this show, so Toronto locals The Weekend filled in with style. Nothing wrong with the girls taking it to the stage! Their photo will be added to todays pictures soon. Meanwhile, after Dashboard finished their set, they raced over to the second stage to join AM Radio onstage for the end of their set! The small Second Stage was nearly overflowing with rock personnel.
Another satisfying set from the weez tonight, though Pat later reported feeling a bit ill, after perhaps having too much fun on the day off yesterday! But that didnt stop the rock. 
...pic #21, L to R:
back row: [2 who werent involved], theredalbum/checkerboardshoe, [another random guy], osaka aquabus
seated: mrtymcfly, rezeeweerez, BreeVanBri, bodn8r, ace, onechicmoshpit, canucgrrl, _________.
not pictured: MarshallAmpJane
...the first batch of Toronto fans' show reports that came in via email...
*"..Holy Cripes! That was an amazing show. The outdoor theatre was totally blown away by weezers awesome power. The pyro is amazing and the whole random setlist compilation system (rolling of the dies) is producing some amazing setlists. Across the Sea was amazing as was every song on the setlist. Props to Rivers and Scott for the nicely coordinated distortion madness at the end too. I hope you guys seriously consider coming back to Toronto cuz you own this joint." ---WeezerCA
*"...Hey Karl, how's it going? I just got back from the Weezer show in Toronto and it was amazing!! They kicked ass!! They music and stage show pyro were awesome. I still have a stiffy!! I was glad to see a new mix of songs that were different from their last tour. I love the Pinkerton album, so I was glad to hear El Scorcho and the Good Life. They both sounded great. Tired Of Sex was amazing as usual as that song kicks serious a$$. Only In Dreams was also breathtaking as the drum set rose and gave way to the flying Weezer symbol. The pyro that followed was awesome. Another great show guys and I can't wait to see you again. Keep up the good work Karl. This is the best fan site on the net!" ---Paul Anacleto
*"...it was amazing. weezer played a great set with more songs from pinkerton than i had expected [4 or something]. dashboard confessional and the weekend were great too. i loved the giant =w= made of lights that came from beneath pat in the middle of the show, and the pyro was cool. very nice." ---colleen
*"...Was everyone feeling O.K. at the Toronto show? I saw Weezer for the first time in Hamilton a while back, and the show had an incredible energy. Tonight's show was incredibly mellow (??!!) and a few fan favourites were left out, leaving more than a few of us in a crowd a little (myself, a LOT) disappointed. Looking at reviews from other shows, I see that Buddy Holly, Why Bother and others were played at those shows (although songs from tonight were left out on other nights). I know set lists change from night to night, but it's a real shame - the Hamilton show had everything. I know Weezer concerts tend to be short, but...............!!!!!! The crowd was stunned when the house lights came up. Too bad - the band put on a great show, but left a lot of us feeling a bit cheated tonight." ---amy H.
*"...just wanted to say how much I was enthralled by tonight's show!! Simply amazing is all I can say! The Weekend I enjoyed.. its not every day you get to see a band with two lovely ladies rocking like only they can! Then there was Dashboard Confessional. Their music is quite soothing, but pumped us all up for what was about to come! Weezer put on an excellent show. I wasn't sure about the unique setlist thing, but I must say.....it kept me at the edge of my seat between songs! It keeps everyone very "into it" (not like they aren't to begin with!) All in All, VERY amazing.....the =W= sign underneath Pat I thought was simply stunning, I was not expecting that at ALL!! wow!! There wasn't very many people at the side stage, but I did get to see a few minutes of the last band that played. It was a nice classic-punk rock feel and sound to it. VERY cool! :) Only bad things about tonight were the fact that I didn't get a chance to get an Enlightenment Tour t-shirt (there was only ONE stand to get them at!), and my camera got taken away :(" ---Rocky Morda
*"...Well I just got back from the Molson Amphitheatre for the Weezer show. It was fantastic. The new =w= under the drum-kit was awesome. I saw the band on Valentine's Day as well and I thought this show was far superior. I saw Loudermilk and Home Town Hero on the sidestage but I missed AM Radio because I didn't want to miss a second of Weezer. Of the two, I enjoyed Loudermilk more, but I thought that, for whatever reason, Home Town Hero were blessed with a much better mix from the sound system. Loudermilk seemed to get much better as their set went on. I'd check them out again if they came back through town. On the main stage, the Weekend opened. They were ok. They didn't really get me interested in their set at all though. Dashboard Confessional played a great set. It flew by way to quickly. I really like acoustic guitar rock music. I had seats right next to the sound booth so I saw you set up your video camera for the Weezer set. Man, that was awesome. I was really excited when they started off with Holiday. The best song of the night, I think, was Only in Dreams. It was dark by then and they had a fog machine going the whole song so all that only the band's silhouettes could be seen. The lighting was perfect for that song. And of course it was the song where the riser went up and the =w= appeared. And they finally played El Scorcho after teasing it the last few times they played in the Toronto area. I thought it was funny when Death and Destruction, which Rivers introduced as a jazz song[?](I didn't quite hear what he said) got little response and he made note of it and so he asked what we wanted to hear and the whole crowd screamed out El Scorcho in unison. After the show I managed to snag a set-list off the sound guy despite not doing any tricks, like he asked. It's going on my wall." ---Randy
*"...I just came back from Weezer's Toronto show and it was awesome. This was my third, and best Weezer concert. The crowd was really into it from the get go when the band appeared. Rivers looked like one of the Men in Black with his suit on! The setlist was an excellent mix of old and new, but I think there was a greater number of Pinkerton songs played than any other. I was totally suprised when Across the Sea was played. That's my favorite Weezer song, but something I never expected to hear live. Also, the way the big Weezer sign appeared was magnificant. That really came out of left field, but I won't go into any further details as not to spoil it for anyone else. All in all, it was an excellent show except for some excessively agressive and obnoxious folks in the pit. This is Weezer after all, not Slipknot. Anyways, thanks for an excellent show. Hope y'all swing by the T-dot again sometime soon!" ---Rob
...update: the 5/13/02 Live Weezer Performance at the whiskey will be repeated on Mtv2 at these times:
Tue 07/16 12:30 PM
Wed 07/17 3:00 AM
Sat 07/20 12:30 AM
all times are EST 
additional recording info: Shmedly
Here's a little autobiographical writing from recent studio guest keyboardist Shmedly...
::: "...It's Shmedly, my mother calls me Ryan Maynes. I was born on February 10, 1973- I am an Aquarius. I started playing piano when I was three years old and writing songs at the age of five. I grew up in Huntington Beach and as a child my father would accompany me to local bars and I would stand in and jam with the bands. When I was thirteen I decided to give myself the nickname Shmedly because there were too many Ryan's around and I was tired of being confused with all of the rest of them. I went to the Los Angeles County Highschool of the Arts and played in the jazz band. My first year in school I discovered rock n' roll music when I began to play with all of the older students in school. Mainly I was playing lead guitar rocking out with my Eddie Van Halen guitar and immediately fell in love with the idea of becoming- well a rock star. I have played in various bands including Floor 13, Date with Dizzy, Holliston Stops, Northern Lights (Keyboards), The Ben Vaughn Desert Classic ( Bass, and Accordion). Right now I live in Pasadena, I am currently playing bass in the band Arlo (Subpop) we are on tour through early August. I have many musical influences. My favorite artists are ELO, The Beachboys, Beatles, Roy Wood, Sid Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock, The Move, Harry Nillson, Billy Joel, and Paul Williams. As far as my experiences playing with the band- it is an extreme privilage. I have been a fan over the years and it has been a pleasure and a great compliment to play with Weezer. They have been very welcoming to me making me feel at home. I am looking forward to expanding my musical creativity with them. I love all things Disney and Cindy from the Brady Bunch. My prize possession is a painting my grandfather replicated from my Heather Thomas pink bikini poster for me when I was in highschool, it hangs in my bedroom.
:::Thanks, Shmedly"
Category:Karl's Corner - July 2002