American Holiday

American Holiday is an unlicensed bootleg Weezer CD released by the record label Tornado in late 1995. Band archivist and roadie Karl Koch recognizes it to be the second Weezer bootleg ever released, following Geezer, which released earlier the same year.Weezer. (December 4, 2013). Social media post. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Historic event: 12/04/1994.
==Overview==
The bootleg contains audio from two different 1994 Weezer shows: tracks 1–9 come from their August 12 concert at Tipitina's in New Orleans, LA (though erroneously attributed to a August 31 concert at The Other World), and tracks 10–18 from their December 5 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City,Koch, Karl. (1996). "Karl's Corner". Weezine Issue #6 - Spring 1996 (pg. 8). both part of the band's . Performances of songs from Weezer (The Blue Album) make up the majority of the bootleg's tracks, interspersed with an early performance of "Getchoo" (which would later appear on Pinkerton in 1996) as well as the B-side "Jamie".
American Holiday, whose title is seemingly an amalgam between the Weezer songs "Surf Wax America" and "Holiday", was produced in Taiwan by the record label Tornado. Its exact release date is unknown, however it is known to have been created sometime in mid-to-late 1995, after the release of Geezer in Spring. Its art is derivative of the cover of Weezer (The Blue Album), with the four band members overlayed over a green-tinted American flag. Most songs are referred to by incorrect or fabricated titles on the track listing. An additional track, "Conclusion", is present only as part of the track listing printed on the release's disc. It is unknown how many copies were produced or how broadly it was distributed. The CD is coveted by some as a rare collector's item.
==Legacy==
The bootleg was first officially recognized by the band when it was included in a list of bootleg releases in the Spring 1996 edition of Karl's Corner, a column ran by Karl Koch and (originally) featured in issues of the quarterly Weezer Fan Club publication Weezine. It's listed alongside other 1995 bootlegs Geezer and Rock Candy, along with Live in Paris & Boston (a cassette which Koch later removed from bootleg lists due to an abundance of duped tapes without distinct art or titles). Here, Koch briefly describes the album and rates its sections out of 10: "Song listings all wrong and hilarious. St. Louis part=4 NYC part=-2 (awful)".
In his online catalog of Weezer releases, the Collectors Discography, which existed on weezer.com from 2001 to 2014, Koch included American Holiday as the second in a list of three "'old school' bootlegs", which he states "have attained some historical significance" (which also included Geezer and Rock Candy).Koch, Karl. "appendix A: EPs, DVDs, Compilations, soundtracks, tributes, misc.". Collectors Discography.
The bootleg was most recently mentioned when it was featured in an entry of the "Today in Weezer history" series of social media posts on December 4, 2013. The post focuses on Geezer, but at one point notes American Holiday as the band's second bootleg:
[Geezer] was first ever weezer show to get bootlegged on CD - but it wouldn't be the last - also pictured here are #2, "American Holiday", and #3 "Rock Candy", both from later in 1995. Many more would follow in the 90s before everything went to Napster and such and bootleg CDs and LPs became just novelties for completest collectors.
==Track listing==
==Gallery==
Image:Americanholiday pckg 01.jpg|Inside front insert
Image:Americanholiday pckg 02.jpg|Outside front insert
Image:Americanholiday pckg 03.jpg|Back cover art
Image:Americanholiday pckg 04.jpg|Inside tray card
Image:Americanholiday pckg 05.jpg|Disc art
==See also==
*Geezer
*Boys at Play and Rock Candy
*List of unofficial bootlegs (physical)
==External links==
*American Holiday on Discogs
==References==
Category:Unofficial bootlegs
Category:1995 releases